Dancing
by MJ Duncan
Summary: Alex agrees to join Olivia out in the field to try and help catch a serial rapist. Will this be the time she and Olivia finally stop dancing around each other and admit their feelings? Alex/Olivia - FEMSLASH. ...COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

**AO Fic:** Dancing

**Author:** MJ Duncan

**Fandom:** SVU

**Pairing:** Alex/Olivia

**Rating: **Mature

**Summary: **Alex agrees to join Olivia out in the field to try and help catch a serial rapist. Will this be the time she and Olivia finally stop dancing around their feelings?

**Disclaimer:** The aren't mine. Damn.

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

**_Part 1_**

Alex Cabot looked up from the closing argument she was busy drafting, jumping slightly in surprise at the three fast knocks that echoed off her door before it was unceremoniously thrown open by the woman who haunted her dreams and had a tendency to make everyday conversations rather… passionately combative. She watched the powerful brunette stride purposefully into the middle of her office and couldn't help but think of how much easier dealing with the headstrong Detective would be if she could just gather the olive skinned beauty into her arms and kiss her senseless whenever she worked herself up into a strop.

Unfortunately, those thoughts had no bearing on her relationship with the real life Olivia Benson who was perpetually stuck in the 'friend' category.

"Detective," the blonde drawled as she leaned back in her chair and adjusted her glasses. "What can I do for you?"

She expected a rushed demand for a warrant (that was what a lot of Olivia's visits centered around, after all... unfortunately), or perhaps another rip-roaring fight over the Peters case where she couldn't file charges because the evidence was just entirely too circumstantial. An urgent demand, a fight, these were things she was more than prepared to handle. What she got, on the other hand, was something entirely different.

"Hi." The brunette smiled and jammed her fists into the pockets of her leather jacket.

"Um, hi?" Alex carefully set her pen down on her legal pad and smiled tentatively, extremely aware of how her heart was beating faster from just being in the same room with the stunning Detective.

She watched, fighting her amusement at how adorable Olivia looked struggling to find the correct words to voice whatever was bouncing around inside that brilliant mind of hers.

"Do you need me?" Alex asked, arching a perfectly sculpted brow questioningly.

"Um, actually I do," Olivia admitted softly.

"Well, what can I do for you?" Alex asked amiably, doing her best to keep her fantasies to herself and not let them influence her interactions with the brunette.

Olivia stared at the beautiful blonde and bit her lip thoughtfully. _Oh the things I would love for you to do to me Counselor_, she thought to herself before her embarrassment about why she was there overwhelmed her again. In Cabot's office. _Goddamn, but that woman is gorgeous._

Alex folded her hands in her lap and rocked back in her chair, rather enjoying the subtle play of emotions rolling across the brunette's features.

"Liv," Alex tried again. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Olivia snapped out of her daydream about Alex spread out across her desk and screaming in ecstasy. "Oh, right, sorry. I need a favor."

_Of course_, Alex sighed. "Well, why don't you tell me what you need and I'll see what I can do."

If Alex hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she never would have believed it. Olivia Benson blushed. _Well damn if that wasn't the most interesting thing to happen today_, Alex thought to herself as she pushed up out of her chair and rounded her desk to perch on the front edge closer to the now speechless brunette.

"Hey," Alex smiled as she reached out and ran a comforting hand down the Detective's arm. "What is it?"

"I need you to help me with a stake-out tonight," Olivia muttered, eyes downcast as her blush deepened.

"Me?" Alex asked, unable to keep her surprise out of her voice. "And… you?"

Olivia nodded and blushed some more.

Alex chuckled softly. "If you wanted to ask me out on a date you could just … you know …," she let her voice trail off.

"What?" Olivia gasped.

"Ask me," Alex smiled.

Olivia stared at the blonde, her heart beating a mile a minute in her chest and her blush deepening as she processed what Alex had just said. A large part of her desperately hoped that the blonde was serious, but the more realistic part of her convinced the fanciful part that Alex was just teasing. "Hmm. Well, I'll keep that in mind Counselor – but I actually do need your help on a stake-out tonight."

"Oh." It was Alex's turn to blush as she realized that she'd just embarrassed herself. _Would have thought that you'd have learned to not go and do something stupid like try and flirt_, she mentally berated herself. "Okay. Sure."

"Really?" hopeful brown eyes looked up to stare into endless blue. "I haven't even told you what it is. You'd really help me?"

Alex shrugged self deprecatingly. "If you're willing to be seen out in public with me, I'd be a fool to say no – no matter the situation."

Olivia cocked her head to the side and stared at the blonde. "Anybody in their right mind would love to be seen out with you Alex," she murmured before she could stop herself.

"Well," Alex ducked her head in embarrassment. "Thank you. But why me?"

"We have a lead on the serial rapist in the Village," Olivia ran a hand through her hair, referring to their open investigation into the rapist who was specifically targeting lesbians.

"That's great." Alex smiled, mentally willing Olivia to just get the hell on with her reasoning already. She was only vaguely aware of the investigation because the squad didn't have a suspect yet so she hadn't been fully briefed –and the way Olivia was hemming and hawing had her beginning to think there was something major that she was unaware of. "But I still don't see what this has to do with me."

"Each of the victims visited a club in the Village, Sugarland, the night they were attacked," Olivia explained, her face still hot and her eyes still insanely focused on the pattern of carpet on the floor of the ADA's office.

"Okay," Alex nodded. "And..."

"Um, yeah, you see," Olivia stuttered.

"Just tell me Liv," Alex sighed, her amusement at the brunette's awkwardness wearing thin.

"Each of the victims were blonde," Olivia explained. "Tall, blonde, and beautiful," Olivia continued, pleased that Alex, so far, hadn't interrupted her.

Alex, for her part, was busy staring incredulously at the woman in front of her. _Does she really think I'm beautiful?_

"And," Olivia cleared her throat in an attempt to draw her attention away from what had to be the most beautiful blue eyes on the planet, "they all wore glasses."

"Glasses?" Alex repeated dumbly.

"Yeah," Olivia nodded.

"You guys don't have fake glasses in your dress-up bin?" Alex chuckled.

"Alex," Olivia groaned without thinking. "Nobody looks better in a pair of specs than you."

This got the ADA's attention. "Really now?"

"Yes," Olivia groaned and covered her face with her hands. _Dammit Benson, she's so not interested in you – can you just try and pretend to be a professional._ "Of course. I mean," she waved indicatively, "have you seen you? Shit, I knew Cragen should have sent Elliot up to see you about this."

"And yet here you are," Alex grinned. "Telling me that I'm a beautiful blonde who can rock the glasses like nobody else."

"Yes," Olivia nodded, resigned to her embarrassment.

"And, as I'm a hot blonde with glasses, you want me to go to this club and pretend to be a lesbian to try and draw this guy out."

"Argh, I knew this would just make you completely insufferable!" Olivia looked up at Alex and could do nothing to keep the grin that was threatening from breaking free.

"Why do you all think that he'll hit again tonight?" Alex asked, trying to change the subject and save the object of her affection some embarrassment. And failed miserably.

"It's Blonde Bombshell night," Olivia murmured.

"I'm sorry," Alex leaned in closer to the brunette. "I didn't hear that."

"Thursday nights are Blonde Bombshell nights," Olivia looked Alex in the eye and gave up on trying to contain the blush that was setting her face on fire. "Blondes get in for free … so lots of possible victims for him to choose from."

"I see," Alex murmured.

"I knew it was a stupid idea," Olivia turned to leave. "Just, forget it Cabot. Never mind."

"I'll go on one condition," Alex smiled.

"Anything," Olivia breathed, beyond pleased to have the blonde's assistance. "Anything you want Alex."

"I want you to go as my date," Alex answered.

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

"And what did you say?" Elliot laughed as he listened to his partner recount her meeting with Cabot.

Olivia dropped her forehead onto her arms that were folded atop her desk and groaned loudly. "Ugh. What could I say? I said yes. Of course I said yes. What would you say if Alexandra Cabot asked you to go to a club with her as her date?"

Elliot laughed again. "I'd tell her I was married but that my partner has been ass over eyeballs in love with her for years."

Olivia lifted her head to glare at the man who was torturing her. "Laugh it up Stabler."

"Oh I intend to," he guffawed. "You finally got a date with Cabot and you're both going to be wearing wires!" he crowed.

"You suck El," Olivia wadded up a scrap of paper off her desk and threw it at him. "Just, can you let me drown in my own misery in peace?"

"Nope," he grinned. "That's what partners are for."


	2. Chapter 2

**_…_**

**_Part 2_**

"Something's different with you," Liz Donnelly stated as she openly appraised Alex.

"I don't know what you mean Liz," Alex blushed. "Is there some reason you came down here this afternoon?"

"Is it Benson?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Only Benson makes you this school-girl happy. What did she do?"

Alex was about to pull one of her diversionary arguments out to get rid of Liz when her phone rang. _Saved by the bell_, she thought as she smiled apologetically and reached for the handset – desperately hoping that whoever was on the line would need a decent chunk of her time so that Donnelly would leave her alone. She was really getting tired of the badgering.

"Cabot," she answered in her normal brusque _I'm so incredibly busy this better be damned important_ tone.

"_Hey Alex,"_ Olivia's voice greeted her.

Donnelly watched as Alex's blush spread from her collar all the way up to the roots of her hair as she glanced away and lowered her voice. She sat back further into her chair to observe the one-sided conversation playing out in front of her. Which, she thought, was the most interesting thing to happen today. It was a slow day in the tower.

"What's up Liv? … Uh huh. Yeah, I'm still in. … No. … Why would I back out when you said you'd go as my date? … Yes, I will keep reminding you of it. … Because you're cute when you blush. … What? No, I said I'm kind of in a rush. … Okay then. … Yeah. … Well, I'm not comfortable with a man doing it. … Yeah, is that okay? … Good. … Great. Yeah. They'll be at my place when? … Nine. … Okay. Got it. See you later Liv."

Liz watched the young blonde smile as she hung up the phone and when she looked back up at her she gave the ADA a big grin and two thumbs up. "Way to go Cabot! You finally went and asked Benson out!"

"It's not like that Liz," Alex blushed. "I'm helping the squad with an investigation."

The older woman chuckled as she stood and made her way to the door. "Didn't sound like that to me Counselor. I'll let you finish that paperwork so you can get out of here on time tonight. Don't want you to be late for your big date."

"Was there something you needed Liz?"

Donnelly turned around and grinned. "No, not really. I was just trying to find a way to amuse myself until it was time to go home. This worked beautifully, thanks Cabot."

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

"El, what's the extension for the tech guys?" Olivia asked her partner as she used her index finger to hang up the phone on her desk, keeping the handset nestled between her shoulder and her ear.

"Um, 9718, why?"

"Alex said she would prefer a woman to set her wire tonight so I need to call and see if Lucy can do it," she explained as she punched the extension in.

Elliot listened to his partner's side of the conversation with a giant amused grin lighting his face.

"Hey George, it's Olivia. … Uh huh, yeah. … No, I haven't tried that pick-up line on a woman before – did it work? … Oooh, ouch, sorry buddy. … Yeah, I'm actually calling about work. … Why do you always sound so damned surprised? … I do too work. Hard. … Shut up. … Yeah, is Lucy there? … She's not? Fuck. … Oh please, don't act like you don't swear like a sailor. … Yeah, you're just jealous that I do it better than you do. … Uh huh. Yeah. I'll just have to wing it, I guess. Can you have a gopher drop the kit off here? … You're a saint."

"Sounds like it's your lucky day Liv," Elliot laughed as he watched Olivia drop the handset in its cradle.

"Shut up El," Olivia smiled.

"Well, if she doesn't want one of the guys to do it who's left?" he waggled his brows suggestively.

"Me," Olivia groaned as she dropped her forehead to her desktop with a loud _clunk_.

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

"Hey Alex," Olivia smiled as she stepped into the surprised blonde's apartment. "Lucy is out of town at a wedding and since you weren't comfortable with one of the guys doing this," she held up the small microphone and transmitter indicatively, "you're stuck with me."

"You?" Alex squeaked, desperately trying to contain her excitement at the idea of having Olivia's hands on her body.

_She doesn't want me to touch her. Shit, I knew she was just joking around about me being her 'date' tonight. _"Um, yeah. Is that okay?"

_Hell yes it's okay, happy birthday to _me, Alex thought to herself as she shrugged and smiled. "I'm fine with it if you are."

Olivia had to bite the inside of her cheek to hold in the victorious war whoop that she wanted to let loose at the thought of being able to actually touch Alex's glorious body. "Alright then. You'll need to, um…"

"What?"

Olivia looked up and smiled. "Take off your shirt."

"Feeling frisky tonight, are we Detective?" Alex joked as she automatically reached down to grasp the hem of her shirt and pull it off over her head.

"You have no idea," Olivia muttered as she stared at the most perfectly flawless expanse of alabaster skin she'd ever seen.

...

"So, what's the plan?" Alex asked, doing her best to keep her breathing steady and her legs from giving out as Olivia worked a thin microphone into the cup of her bra.

Olivia, so focused on the fact that she had Alex Cabot in front of her wearing only a form fitting pair of designer jeans and a bra, heard nothing of what the blonde had said.

"Liv," Alex tried again, closing her eyes and willing her nipples to say soft and pliant as the brunette's fingers danced around her silk covered mounds.

She opened her eyes to look down and focus on what Olivia was doing, noticing that (despite her best efforts) her body was doing a damn fine job of revealing her increasing arousal.

"Mmm," Olivia murmured in response, her tongue reflexively darting out to wet her lips as her eyes focused on the way Alex's nipples were straining against the material of her bra.

Deciding that if she didn't get Olivia's attention away from her breasts immediately that she'd just throw caution to the wind and take the Detective right then and there giving the guys in the truck one hell of a show, she chuckled softly and ran a hand through the brunette's thick hair. "My eyes are up here Detective."

Olivia blushed profusely as she stood up and looked into Alex's eyes. "I know, Counselor. And they're beautiful," she murmured.

Alex swallowed audibly and bit her lip. "Plan?" she husked.

"Oh, right," Olivia took a hasty step back and jammed her hands into her pockets where they could do the least harm. "We'll go in and have fun, watch the crowd, see if anybody matching the perp's description is around. Each victim was attacked in the alley behind the club. We're not sure if he's actually in the club, or if he has an accomplice working inside. Apparently he likes to try and 'fuck them straight'."

"And you'll be nearby at all times?" Alex clarified, suddenly very aware of what she had agreed to do.

Olivia nodded. "I'll be nearby all night. Maybe I'll even ask you to dance," she smirked playfully.

Alex appraised the brunette as she pulled her shirt on over her head. "You have a deal. I would love to dance with you."

"Wow," Olivia grinned, "you're sure an easy date."

"You have no idea how easy I could be for you Olivia," Alex murmured softly as she grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

Alex and Olivia entered the club and ran right into a veritable wall of sensory overload. The bass pumping out of the speakers filled the room with a tangible beat that Alex found incredibly overpowering, uncomfortably so until she got used to the feeling of the music literally reverberating through her body and then she found the steady _thwump _from the sub-woofers strangely hypnotic.

Olivia completely ignored the music as let her eyes adjust to the change in lighting so she could better appraise the patrons. There was a healthy mix of different types of women and men filling the space, a decent percentage of them blondes, and it was becoming more and more apparent that picking their guy out of this sea of humanity would be damn near impossible.

"Why don't you go get us a drink," Olivia leaned in close and whispered through blonde silk.

Alex shuddered at the feeling of the brunette's warm breath dancing across her ear. "Where are you going?" she asked, doing her best to not let her fear show.

"Gonna have a quick look around," Olivia smiled. "Don't worry Alex; I'll meet you at the bar."

Alex nodded quickly. "Okay. What do you want?"

Olivia grinned and squeezed Alex's hand reassuringly. "Surprise me."

...

Olivia was on the tail-end of her scouting loop when she spotted Alex perched daintily on the edge of a barstool at the end of the shining slab of teak and smiled to herself as she watched the blonde nurse her drink and chat with everyone who approached her.

_Good girl Alex,_ she nodded approvingly, working hard to ignore the stab of jealousy that she felt as she watched possible suitors approach the blonde.

"_Liv,"_ the earpiece Olivia had been outfitted with crackled to life. _"You have a visual on Alex?"_

"Yeah," she murmured into her collar where her mic was hidden.

"_How's your girl doing?"_ Elliot asked.

"She's amazing," Olivia answered softly, never once taking her eyes off of the enigmatic blonde as she played and replayed the vision that was Alex Cabot in a navy blue silk bra through her mind.

At the other end of the bar Alex felt the heavy weight of eyes on her and looked up to capture Olivia's gaze. She smiled and nodded at the handsome brunette and picked up her glass and the drink she'd ordered for the detective before carefully making her way through the crowd to where Olivia was watching her.

"Hello," she drawled, holding out the Coke she'd ordered for Olivia.

"Hey," Olivia smiled as she took the proffered drink.

"_Very smooth Casanova,"_ Elliot chuckled.

"Shut up," Olivia muttered.

"I'm sorry?" Alex replied, hurt flashing quickly through her keen blue eyes.

"Not you," Olivia placed her hand on Alex's wrist and smiled softly. "Him," she whispered, tilting her head slightly toward her collar where her microphone was hidden.

"Oh. Well then, how about we go and have that dance you promised me?" Alex asked.

"I don't know," Olivia smiled and took a healthy drink from her glass as she heard Elliot laughing loudly in her earpiece.

"_Go on Liv, bust a move,_" he mocked. _"Just, you know, try and make it look better than whatever the fuck that was you were doing at the precinct earlier when you were practicing – because that was just … there are no words for how bad that was."_

Olivia blushed and hid her eyes with her free hand.

Alex, who didn't have an earpiece, watched at the brunette with a concerned look on her face. "Are you okay? You have to strangest look on your face right now."

"Huh? Oh yeah," Olivia focused on the beautiful blonde in front of her.

"Are you sure? Because you look like you're in pain," Alex scrunched her brow in confusion as she studied the brunette.

"I'm fine," Olivia replied curtly and gulped down the remainder of her drink. "Let's go see if we can get some attention onto you and draw this guy out of the shadows," she stated before jumping up and heading out into the gyrating mass of bodies filling the dance floor.

"You know," Alex murmured as she stopped in front of Olivia and pointedly grabbed the brunette's hips. "You could just relax and pretend to enjoy yourself."

"I don't have to pretend to enjoy myself," Olivia smiled as she felt the blonde's fingers wrap around her hips.

"Could have fooled me," Alex frowned as she stepped in closer to Olivia and began moving in time with the brunette.

"We have an audience," Olivia smiled, sliding her arms around the blondes neck as she reminded her that theirs weren't the only ears listening to what was happening inside the club. "I'm quite happy with where I am at the moment."

"Me too," Alex murmured. "So, why don't we get this asshole's attention onto me so the pervert in the van can arrest him and we can have some fun."

"_Tell her I heard that and that I'm not a perv,"_ Elliot's voice crackled through Olivia's earpiece.

Olivia just laughed and smiled at Alex. "You have yourself a deal Counselor."

Alex smiled as she let herself go, finally enjoying having Olivia under her fingertips and not having to worry about what anybody thought of her actions. She was undercover. 'Pretending' to be a lesbian. She had to act the part, right? She smiled and bit her lip to keep from laughing as she reveled in the feeling of finally, for once in her boring everyday existence, NOT having to act as if she was not extremely attracted to the brunette. It was extremely liberating to finally be free to be herself for a change instead of the Ice Princess ADA whom everybody expected her to be.

Olivia had to bite her tongue to keep from moaning as Alex's long thing fingers grasped, rubbed, and stroked her hips as the blonde pulled herself closer.

Alex's body was responding to the proximity of the brunette's powerful frame with reckless abandon. She felt like she was on fire, every nerve-ending demanding to be stroked, touched, and caressed. She danced closer as she realized that she needed more. Needed the brunette's hands upon her body. Needed to feel Olivia's skin slick with sweat beneath her fingertips.

"You move beautifully," Alex smiled at her dance partner.

"Thank you," Olivia blushed. "You too."

"Mmm," Alex smiled and moved in closer still, expertly sliding one jean clad leg between Olivia's as she began to move more provocatively against the other woman.

_H-o-ly fuck_, Olivia thought, moaning softly as she felt the blonde's trim thigh press tight to her center, her hands dropping of their own volition to grasp Alex's hips and pull the blonde close. She let her mind wander as she reveled in the feeling of actually touching Alex, of actually having her hands on the blonde's body; enjoying the way she was able to direct Alex's movements against her with a soft push or a gentle pull one way or the other on her hips in much the same way as she would have were they in bed. It was a strangely intimate feeling, considering they were surrounded by an untold number of strangers and that their relationship was regrettably far from intimate.

"I could get used to this Alex," Olivia husked.

"Me too," Alex murmured, pushing herself that much closer to the brunette so that their hips were pressed tight against each other and one of Olivia's strong thighs threaded it's way between her legs.

"God Alex," Olivia moaned as she felt the blonde grind down on her leg.

"_Liv,"_ Elliot's voice broke the spell she was rapidly falling victim to. _"I know you don't want to hear my voice right now, but keep your game face on partner."_

"Fuck," Olivia groaned, her head dropping to the surprised blonde's shoulder.

"What?" Alex asked, the brunette's outburst catching her by surprise.

"Damned pervert in the van," Olivia growled.

"Oh yeah," Alex breathed, blushing slightly as she remembered that they were supposed to be working.

"I really hate my life sometimes," Olivia whined.

Alex studied the olive skinned beauty in her arms carefully, desperate to see some sign that Olivia felt the same things she did when they were dancing. "Sorry," she offered softly.

Olivia appraised the blonde carefully, finally deciding that it was worth finally taking a chance on Alex. "I'm not. The timing just sucks. We'll talk later," Olivia leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to the blonde's cheek, breathing deep and inhaling Alex's perfume.

"I'd like that," Alex smiled, pleased to see that perhaps, after all this time, she and Olivia were finally ready stop dancing around their attraction.

"Good," Olivia smiled and stepped back from the blonde. "I need a drink. How 'bout you?"

"I'm going to go use the restroom," Alex smiled as she tried to discretely shift her jeans away from her throbbing wet center. "How about if you surprise me this time?"

"Sounds good," Olivia nodded.

Alex nodded and murmured, "I'll be right back then."

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

"You got anything El?" Olivia muttered into her mic as she slid up to the bar and ordered a couple of drinks for her and Alex.

"_Nobody's really stood out from our positions,"_ Elliot answered. _"How's it going in there?"_

"Like you couldn't hear for yourself," Olivia ground out as she paid the bartender and grabbed their cokes.

"_Sounded like she was enjoying herself as much as you were,"_ Elliot replied honestly.

Olivia appreciated the way her partner had refrained from teasing her about Alex. "Thanks El. It seemed that way to me too. I'm going to go find her and maybe we'll make a circuit of the dance floor and see what we can see."

"_Sounds good partner,"_ Elliot answered. _"Fin's in the alley like we'd discussed earlier and I'm out front in the pervert van if you need me."_

"Thanks," Olivia smiled.

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

Alex studied her appearance in the mirror above the sinks as she washed her hands, pleased with the slight flush that she saw was tinting her cheeks.

"Benson looks good on you Cabot," she whispered to herself and smiled at her reflection before reaching toward the automatic paper towel dispenser and drying her hands.

She left the bathroom with one last quick look to make sure her hair looked good and was a few steps back into the thriving club when she was bumped into.

"Crap, sorry," the man smiled down at her. "Hey, I'm Chase."

Alex nodded. "Alex."

"You want to dance?"

"Thank you, but, no," Alex smiled apologetically. "I'm here with my girlfriend," she said, delivering the line she was supposed to – and secretly hoping that sometime soon it would be the truth.

"Your girlfriend," he chuckled softly to himself. "Of course."

"I'm sorry, why 'of course'?" Alex asked.

"Because all the hot girls nowadays have girlfriends," he answered with a shrug.

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

"_Liv, it sounds like Alex has a live one,"_ Stabler's voice crackled in Olivia's ear.

"I see her," Olivia murmured and immediately began threading through the crowd toward her friend, keeping a careful eye on the blonde who was talking to a guy who actually fit the general description of their rapist. As she got closer she could see that he was fit, good looking, with shaggy brown hair and warm chocolate eyes. He didn't look like a predator, but she had learned early on that most of the time they never do.

"Hey baby," she drawled as she slid in behind Alex and handed the blonde the Diet Coke she'd ordered for her.

"Hey," Alex looked over and smiled. "This is … I'm sorry, I forgot your name," she laughed.

"Chase," he held his hand out toward Olivia. "Chase Walker."

"_I'm running the name now Liv," _Elliot's voice crackled in her ear.

"Olivia Benson," Liv shook his hand and smiled, noting the small flicker of anger in his eyes as she told him her name.

"Well," he looked around himself, "I guess I should leave you two alone now. Have a nice evening, nice to meet you."

"And you," Alex nodded.

Olivia waited until he was out of earshot before muttering into her mic, "Anything El?"

"_Nothing Liv, sorry."_

"Damn," Olivia hissed and lifted her glass to her lips.

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

Alex and Olivia spent another hour doing the pretend-date thing, drinking and dancing but never regaining the fiery intensity of their first dance of the evening. Olivia noted how Alex quite appropriately received a lot of attention and lingering looks from the other patrons, but was not approached directly again – even when she separated from Olivia.

"Look Liv," Alex groaned as she dropped into an empty chair beside the brunette. "I'm beat. I was in court all morning and had the unparalleled joy of providing Liz's afternoon entertainment in my office this afternoon," she smiled as she caught Olivia's interested expression. "No, I'm not going to explain that. And now I'm tired, and I want to go to bed. How much longer do we need to stay here?"

"_Go ahead and get out of there Liv,"_ Elliot yawned into his mic. _"I'll tell Fin to head on out now too."_

"We can go now," Olivia grabbed Alex's hand. "Thanks for coming out with me tonight."

"Anytime," Alex smiled softly. "All you have to do is ask."

"I'll remember that," Olivia murmured as she wrapped a protective arm around the blonde's shoulders.

"I'm hoping you will," Alex yawned.

They exited the club to an empty street and turned to walk the short distance to where Elliot had parked the van. Alex leaned into Olivia's warm embrace, savoring the heat pouring off of the detective, as they stepped off the curb to cross the street. They were both tired from the long week and the unexpected overtime that evening that they failed to notice that they were being followed.

"I had a good time tonight," Alex smiled at Olivia. "Circumstances notwithstanding, this was still one of the best nights out I've had in quite a while."

"Well, I'm glad you had fun," Olivia smiled and squeezed the blonde affectionately.

"Hello again," a familiar voice interrupted their private exchange.

They both turned to find Chase Walker standing only a few meters behind them.

"Hello," Alex answered warily. "Do you need help with something?"

"Yes," he grinned, the expression devoid of any warmth. "You are exactly what can help me out tonight."

Olivia was reaching behind her for the gun tucked into the back of her pants when they turned, but she hesitated to pull the weapon in case he wasn't a threat – she and Alex were the unit's best bet to flush their suspect out and she didn't want to go flashing her gun and shield unless it was necessary.

Unfortunately it was entirely necessary, and she paid for her hesitation.

Before Alex could comprehend what was happening there was the distinctive pop of a gunshot and Olivia was down on the ground. She had barely begun to process what she was witnessing when she felt a strong hand grip her shoulder and spin her around as a thick forearm wrapped around her neck.

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

In the van down the street, Elliot ripped his headset off at the first cacophonous boom of the gunshot and was barreling out the twin doors at the back of the vehicle and flying down the street toward Olivia and Alex. Fists pumping and feet flying, he tore down the street like the horsemen of the Apocalypse were chasing him. He saw a man dragging Alex down into an alley between two buildings, her feet kicking wildly at the air and her hands wrapped around the arm crushing her throat.

He ripped his gun from its holster as he dropped to one knee to check quickly on his partner. Olivia was having none of his concern though, instead yelling and waving at him with her one good arm to get his ass moving to go after Alex. He stood and started running after Alex again, leaving the angry brunette struggling to get to her feet in his wake.

He turned the corner at a flat sprint, his keen detective's eyes noting the struggling bodies at the end of the dark alley. The man had Alex bent over a trash can and he was working on getting her jeans down over her hips. Alex looked like she was putting up a fight, which was doing a good job slowing her attacker down until he lost patience with her and punched her in the side of her head.

Elliot felt a wave of bile flood his mouth as he watched the blonde's thin frame drop like a weight after the vicious punch and he leveled the sights of his gun on the man's back as he slowed to steady his aim – the last thing he wanted to do was hit Alex by mistake.

"NYPD," he bellowed as he lined up his shot. "Place your hands on the back of your head and step away from the woman."

He watched the man's shoulders tense and could see the way his grip on Alex's hips tightened before he shoved her aside. Elliot fought the urge to watch Alex as he held his gun steady on the blonde's attacker.

"Drop the gun," he ordered, taking a careful step toward the man. "It's over. Drop your weapon."

"You heard him fuck head," Olivia growled threateningly as she slowly rounded the corner to the alley, her own service weapon held steady in her off hand and leveled at the man. "Drop your goddamn gun."

Part of her hoped that he would refuse so she could shoot him with a clean conscience.

Seeing that he was outnumbered and outgunned, he dropped his gun and set his hands on top of his head.

"Fuck," Olivia groaned as she dropped to the street and leaned back against a dirty brick wall as she watched her partner cuff and frisk Alex's attacker.

"Fuck him!" Olivia yelled once she saw the rapist cuffed. She pulled a ragged breath through gritted teeth as she felt the dark waves of unconsciousness threatening. She summoned the last of her strength and screamed at her partner with her last conscious breath, "For the love of God Stabler, check on Alex!"


	3. Chapter 3

**_…_**

**_Part 3_**

"Where are you taking them?" Elliot asked the paramedics as they loaded Alex and Olivia, who were both still unconscious, bundled up, and strapped to gurneys, into separate ambulances.

"Mount Sinai," the medic tending to Alex answered. "If neither of them wakes up before we get there do you have their MPAs?"

Elliot rubbed a meaty palm over his face and nodded. "Yeah, I brought their emergency files with me just-in-case. I have them in the van. I'm Detective Benson's appointed MPA so just do whatever you need to do."

"They'll still need to see the paperwork once we get them to the hospital," he nodded. "How about the blonde?"

Elliot sighed. "I'll call her Uncle and have him meet us at the hospital."

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

Elliot stared down at the battered blonde, his heart breaking at the sight of her broken and bruised visage.

"Judge Hermann is out of town, but our Chief of Staff knows him so he was able to give us the go ahead over the phone so we're going to need to take her back for an MRI. Her initial x-rays showed a hairline fracture through her Temporal and Zygomatic bones and so I want to make sure that there isn't any intracranial bleeding."

"Just take care of her," Elliot murmured, dropping a quick kiss to the unconscious blonde's forehead before she was wheeled away.

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

"What can you tell me doc?" Elliot asked the small man in the white coat who just left Alex's bedside. "How is she?"

"Ms. Cabot has a concussion but should be fine in a couple of days provided she doesn't do anything too strenuous. She will experience varying degrees of vertigo for the next few hours, but it should dissipate by the end of the day. Her face will be quite tender for a while due to the fractures but the bruising should start to lessen in a couple of days. Her MRI showed no signs of intracranial bleeding which is very good. She's just going to have a major headache and quite the impressive shiner, but all things considered, she is extremely lucky. We'll keep her here for twenty four hours for observation and I imagine she will be fine to go home sometime tomorrow."

"What about my partner?" Elliot asked.

"The general surgeon is in the theatre now repairing the damage to her shoulder."

"What's the prognosis for her recovery?" Elliot asked, knowing that if it was bad he would need to be prepared to break the news to his partner.

"She'll be out of the field for a couple months for sure. The bullet hit and went cleanly through here," he lifted his own arm and pointed at the patch of flesh where the muscle of his shoulder met the hard bone of his clavicle. "A few inches down and she wouldn't be so lucky. She'll have to do quite a bit of PT to regain full use of the arm, but she should make a full and complete recovery."

"Thank God," Elliot sighed, running a meaty hand over his head. "Where is Alex now?" he asked.

"The Judge demanded she be placed in a private room so she's being moved there now," the doctor explained. "She is still unconscious, but I expect she should be waking up soon. We do have her on a morphine drip to help manage her pain, so the drugs are helping to keep her under at this point."

Elliot groaned as he imagined both women's reaction to finding themselves separated from the other. "Is there any way to get Olivia into a room by Alex?"

Elliot's eyes narrowed as he watched the doctor shift uncomfortably. "As per the Judge's orders, Ms. Cabot is on a private floor – so I don't see how that would be possible."

Elliot grimaced. "God help you all when they wake up and realize that."

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

The first thing Alex noticed as she once again became aware of herself and her surroundings was the dim light filtering through her eyelids. The second thing she noticed was the hushed one-sided conversation that was happening right next to her.

"_They're going to be fine Kathy. … Yeah, I know. I'm just waiting for Liv to get out of surgery and then I'll go down and see her. … Yeah, Cragen, Fin and Munch were all here earlier but they had to get back to the precinct to interrogate the guy. … I know, they're both damned lucky. … I'll probably stay here for a while longer. I don't want to leave them here alone. … I love you too Kath. I'll call you when I'm on my way home. … Yes, I'll be careful. Tell the kids I love them."_

"Where's Liv?" Alex croaked. Her head was killing her and she was feeling fuzzy from what she assumed were whatever pain medications they had her on, but the only thing she cared about was Olivia.

"Alex," Elliot leaned in and took a gentle hold of the blonde's hand, doing his best to not show any emotion as he surveyed the damage to her face. Her bruising was growing predictably worse. "How you feeling sweetie?"

"Like I got cold-cocked and knocked out," Alex replied, grimacing as she tried to sit up. "Where's Olivia, El?"

"No, no, Alex, Doc wants you to stay down for a bit. You have a pretty good concussion."

"Feels like it too," Alex turned her head slowly to look at the man beside her. "Where's Liv?" she demanded, her voice growing stronger as her frustration mounted.

"Please, Alex, you need to rest," Elliot stroked the back of her hand softly. "Do you want to know what happened to you?"

Alex leveled her _'are you really this fucking stupid?' _stare on the worried detective beside her bed. "No. I don't care about me. Where. Is. Liv?"

Elliot closed his eyes and sighed. Somehow he knew Alex would only care about Olivia, he could only hope that the ADA wouldn't rip her own IV out and go storming down to the basement to see for herself that Olivia was going to be okay. He knew for a fact that Olivia would try such a stunt. "She's in surgery. They're just finishing up repairing her shoulder now."

"I need to go see her." Alex tried again to push herself up out of bed and groaned loudly as a disorientating wave of vertigo hit her.

"Alex, you need to stay still. She's still in surgery – there's nothing you can do. Do you have an MD that I don't know about to go with your JD?"

Even doped to the moon and in possession of the world's worst headache Alexandra Cabot was a force to be reckoned with and Stabler cowered under her withering gaze.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"She'll be okay?" Alex whispered, her voice demanding and her eyes pained and worried.

"She's going to be fine, Alex." Elliot assured her as he gently ran his fingers over the unbruised side of blonde's forehead. "Just rest and I'll let you know when she's out of surgery."

"You swear?" Alex stared him down.

"I double-triple pinky swear, cross my heart and hope to die Counselor," Elliot replied.

"What?"

"My house is practically a freaking Gymboree, give me a break," he grinned.

"Fine," Alex closed her eyes. "That's good enough for now, I guess. Don't make me hold you in contempt Detective."

Elliot just smiled to himself as he watched the blonde ADA close her eyes and succumb to the opiate induced sleep that she'd been fighting off.

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

Elliot watched the orderlies settle Olivia into the empty bed by the window, struck – as he always was – by the almost fragile beauty of his partner that he only ever saw when she was sleeping. He sat with her for a moment, soaking in the vitality of her presence and allowing himself a few seconds to send a quiet thanks that his prayers had been answered.

"I'm glad you're safe partner," he murmured into the silence. "I'm going to go get Alex and bring her down to see you now."

The elevator he boarded to go up to where Alex was waiting was empty, for which he was thankful. He grabbed a folded up wheelchair as he exited the elevator and pushed it purposefully down the hall toward Alex's room.

"Sir," a redheaded nurse called out to him. "Where are you going with that?"

He looked up and offered what he hoped was an apologetic smile. "I'm going to take Ms. Cabot down to see her friend."

"She's not supposed to be moved tonight," the nurse threw her pen down on her desk and angrily rounded the corner of the nurse's station.

"Look," Elliot told her. "The woman in that room is Alexandra Cabot," he noticed a flash of recognition in the nurse's eyes as he connected the dots for her. "The Alexandra Cabot. Yes, the one whose name is on the plaque outside the entry of emergency room of this hospital. Her friend was shot tonight trying to protect her and I swore to her that I would take her to see Olivia once she was out of surgery."

"She's not supposed to be moved," the nurse argued.

"Look, Nurse Ratchet, I'm taking Alex down to see Olivia. You can fight with me or you can help me, but only God will be able to help you if you refuse that woman the right to see her friend."

"I'll notify her doctor," Nurse Ratchet ground out.

"Excellent," Elliot replied as he turned to enter Alex's room.

He looked down at Alex who was still resting fitfully and felt his heart clench at the sight of her swollen purpling face. The dark bruising stood in stark contrast to the other side of her face which was still beautifully clear and flawless and he silently cursed the bastard that did this to her.

He gently ran the back of his hand over Alex's brow, hating the fact that he was going to wake her up – but knowing that he'd promised and that there would be hell to pay if she awoke to find Olivia was out of surgery and that he hadn't woken her.

"Alex, honey," he murmured, running the back of his hand down the unblemished side of her jaw.

"Huh?" the usually eloquent and loquacious attorney mumbled.

"Alex, Liv's out of surgery." He tried again.

"Liv?" Alex asked sleepily.

"Yeah, they just got her settled. She's still sleepy from the anesthetics but I can help you down to her room if you want to see her."

"I need to see her," Alex whispered and struggled futilely to sit up on her own.

"Let me help you," Elliot offered warmly, carefully slipping an arm behind the blonde's back and helping her sit up.

"Whoa," Alex breathed.

"Dizzy?"

"Yeah," Alex grunted. "I'm fine. I need to see Liv."

Elliot looked around and saw Nurse Ratchet watching him as he helped Alex out of the bed, easily supporting her weight as she leaned heavily against him.

"Elliot," Alex murmured as she scanned her room for the first time. "Where is Olivia?"

"Your Uncle wanted you in a private room, so she's just down a couple floors. I'll push you in the wheelchair."

"That's bullshit," Alex growled. "I want to be by Olivia."

"Well," Elliot shrugged. "Now that you're awake you don't need him as your MPA anymore so you are free to rearrange your own accommodations as you see fit."

Alex looked up at him from the chair, one eye hidden behind swollen purpling flesh and the other shockingly clear and determined behind the spare set of frames from her bag. "You sound like you've been thinking about this for a while."

Elliot shrugged. "I knew you weren't going to want to be separated so I asked around to see what you could do about it once you were awake."

Alex offered the detective a genuine smile. "Thank you Elliot."

"It's my honor," he smiled and pulled her IV pump up next to her side. "Think you can hang onto this for the ride? We'll plug it back in once we get down to Liv's room."

"How fast can we get down there?" Alex asked as she grabbed hold of the metal stand to her pump.

Alex held tight to her IV pump as Elliot pushed her slowly down the corridor to Olivia's room. For as much as she wanted him to rush, her head injury caused her to suffer severe motion sickness and they'd had to slow to a crawl after she threw up all over Nurse Ratchet's shoes. She had tried to apologize, but her apology was drowned out by Elliot's boisterous laughter.

"She's right in here," Elliot murmured as he turned the chair into the last room on the left.

Alex gasped as she saw the bulging bandages on Olivia's shoulder, rocked by the sight of the woman she'd always imagined to be ten feet tall and bulletproof laying under thin sheets and an even thinner blanket looking ghostly pale and … weak.

"Oh Liv," she breathed, reaching out to her friend as Elliot angled the chair so that she was parallel to the bed and looking up at the injured brunette. "God Liv I'm so sorry," she murmured as she traced her fingers over the back of Olivia's hand that was resting atop the blankets sporting a taped-up IV port and heart rate monitor at the end of her index finger.

"It's not your fault, you know," Elliot told her.

Alex shook her head to try and clear the tears from her eyes, the unthinking movement causing her vertigo to return and she swayed in her seat.

"Take it easy Counselor," Elliot murmured as he locked the wheels of her chair into place. "You've had quite a night yourself; doc said you need to take it easy too."

"I'm fine," Alex waved him off. "I only got a bump on the head. She…," her voice trailed off as she focused on Olivia's face. "Liv …," she tried again, her words disappearing into a heart-wrenching sob as the severity of the brunette's injury smothered her ability to think.

"She'll be fine Alex," Elliot squatted down in front of her. "Look at me," he demanded gently.

Alex sniffled and lifted her eyes to Elliot's. "What?"

"She'll be fine," he repeated. "It was a through-and-through, nothing major was hit – she'll be fine."

"But what if she's not?" Alex whispered, running a shaking hand through her disheveled hair anxiously as the tears that had pooled in her eyes spilled over and coursed down her cheeks. "What if she isn't and I never told her … I never told her how much I …"

"Spit it out already Counselor," Olivia husked playfully.

"Liv," Alex gasped as she looked up at the brunette over Elliot's shoulder.

"Welcome back to the world partner," Elliot turned and smiled at Olivia.

"This," Olivia tilted her head toward her bandaged shoulder. "Psht. It's nothing."

Stabler chuckled as he squeezed Alex's shoulder gently. "Told ya she'd be fine. Our Liv's a fighter Alex."

"That she is," Alex murmured, blinking rapidly to try and hold her tears at bay.

"How are you?" Olivia looked at Alex, her concern etched into her drowsy drug-addled features.

"I won't be winning any beauty pageants," Alex smiled as she motioned toward her battered face.

"You're still the most beautiful woman on the planet Alex," Olivia murmured.

Elliot heard the blonde's breath hitch in her throat and decided that now would be a good time to leave them alone for a bit. "I'm going to go check in with Liv's doctor," he excused himself. "You two okay in here?"

"We'll be fine," Olivia smiled at her partner. "Thanks buddy."

"You take care of her," he nodded toward Alex.

"I will," both women answered, both too busy staring at the other to pay attention to exactly whom Stabler had been talking to.

"How are you feeling?" Alex whispered as she carefully twined her fingers through Olivia's.

"Like I got shot," Olivia deadpanned. "I'll be fine. I'm more worried about you. How are you feeling?"

"Like I went ten rounds with a prize-fighter and lost. Badly," Alex replied. "God I was so worried about you Olivia," she murmured.

"C'mere," Olivia patted the bed beside her.

Alex stared at the wounded woman. "You honestly think now is the time to ask me to bed?"

Olivia chuckled. "While I have entertained that thought many, many, times – right now I just really want to hold you and know that you're safe. Is that okay?"

Alex bit her lip and nodded. "I'd like nothing more," she murmured.


	4. Chapter 4

**_…_**

**_Part 4_**

"Be careful," Olivia warned quietly as she watched Alex get shakily to her feet. She watched the determined blonde's grip on the side bedrail tighten and felt her heart clench in fear at the thought of Alex falling and hitting her head again. "You know what? Maybe this wasn't a good idea."

"Bullshit," Alex grunted as she closed her eyes to steady herself. This would be so much easier if her brain would just stop spinning inside her head. "You asked me to get in bed with you – do you really think I'm going to pass up that opportunity?"

"Why don't we wait and maybe Elliot can help you up?" Olivia offered. "I can't exactly pull you up here myself at the moment."

"I got it," Alex replied, sounding like she was trying to convince herself of the fact more than she was Olivia. "I can do this. Dammit, why does this bed have to be so high?"

Olivia chuckled. "Did I just hear Alex Cabot whine?"

"Shut-up," Alex mumbled as she slowly turned around to lean back on the bed. She slowly, ever so cautiously, scooted herself back inch by inch until she was sitting on the bed beside Olivia, her sock clad feet dangling off the side. "See," she announced smugly. "Told you I could do it."

"My hero," Olivia quipped.

Alex looked over and the brunette and growled her displeasure. Yes, growled. "Hey, Lieutenant Sarcasm – zip it."

Olivia just laughed. "So, are you going to come down here so I can wrap my one good arm around you or not?"

Alex surveyed the small section of available on the bed and pursed her lips thoughtfully as another wave of vertigo rolled through her. "I don't think my aim is that good right now."

Elliot, who had been watching the whole thing from the doorway ready to jump in and grab Alex if she needed it, decided to make his presence known. "How about if I help you?"

Olivia looked up at her partner and smiled. "Please?"

"I just want you to know that I'm only doing this because I really don't want to witness a repeat performance of what happened upstairs," Elliot replied.

"What happened upstairs?" Olivia asked.

"Nothing," Alex muttered as she grasped Elliot's hand tightly and allowed him to slowly lower her into the space beside Olivia.

"Alex threw up all over her nurse," Elliot grinned. "It was great!"

"I hate you," Alex groaned as she carefully adjusted herself so that her head was resting comfortably on Olivia's uninjured shoulder. "You said you wouldn't tell anyone about that Stabler," she mumbled.

"How bad is her concussion El?" Olivia murmured as she wrapped her arm protectively around Alex.

"She's awake, so it could be worse," Elliot replied. "Broke a couple bones though," he pointed at his own cheek to indicate where her injuries lay. "No internal bleeding. Doc says she'll be fine."

Olivia took a deep breath and closed her eyes to try and hold back the tears that were beginning to build. "Thank God she's so hardheaded," she mumbled.

Now it was Alex's turn to chuckle. "See, bet you never thought that all those times when we'd fight and scream at each other and you'd call me a hardheaded stubborn bitch that it was a good thing – did you?"

"Why am I not surprised that some of your fights resorted to name calling?" Elliot chuckled as he pulled an extra blanket out of the cupboard and used it to tuck Alex in. "You comfy there princess?" he asked.

"Don't call me that," Alex grumbled. "I hate that."

"What?" Elliot and Olivia asked.

"Princess. WASP. Park Avenue Princess. Ice Princess," Alex rattled off some of her less than flattering nicknames. "I don't like it. I work hard, I'm not a princess."

Olivia smiled and squeezed the blonde gently. "Yeah Elliot," she chuckled. "Play nice or you're going to go time-out."

"I'd love a time-out," Elliot smiled wistfully. "No demanding ADAs or partners yelling at me. Sounds like heaven, can I go now?"

"If I were physically able to lift my head up right now I'd give you my death stare Stabler," Alex mumbled into Olivia's shoulder. "Lucky for you I'm comfy and too dizzy to do it anyways. So, here," she held up her hand to flip him off instead.

Olivia and Elliot stared at the upturned finger for a moment in shock before they both started laughing. "Dear Lord," Elliot gasped, "I have now seen everything. I'm going to go have a chat with the nurse again and then I'm going to run home to change if you girls think you will be okay by yourselves for a bit. I'll pop back in to see how you're doing before I gotta head over the precinct and talk to Dad."

"No problem Elliot," Olivia smiled. "Thanks for everything buddy."

"You know it wasn't a big deal," he murmured as he leaned in to press a soft kiss to her forehead. "You'd do the same for me. Feel better partner."

"Elliot?" Alex murmured.

"What do you need Counselor?"

"Tell the nurse that I'm comfy and I don't want to move."

"I can try Alex, but I don't know how well that will work," Elliot told her honestly. "I broke a lot of rules just to get you down here in the first place."

"Do you have your phone on you?" Alex mumbled.

"Yeah, why?"

"Call this number," Alex rattled off a number from memory, "and then give me the phone."

Elliot did as instructed and then carefully placed his cell phone in Alex's hand. "Here you go."

"Now let me show you how it's done," Alex grinned impishly as she lifted the phone to her ear. "Hey James, it's Alex, is Aunt Maggie there?"

Elliot looked at Olivia and mouthed, "_Who?"_

Olivia arched her brows and shook her head slightly to indicate that she hadn't a clue as to who was on the other end of the line.

"Aunt Maggie," Alex's quiet voice broke the silence. "It's Alex. I'm sorry to bother you so early in the morning but I need a favor."

Elliot and Olivia listened in as Alex explained what had happened the night before and the situation she found herself in now.

"So, long story short, could you call the Chief and have word sent to the nurses on, hold on," she tentatively turned her head to look up at Elliot, "What floor are we on?"

Elliot held up six fingers.

Alex smiled her thanks and returned her head to Olivia's shoulder. "Have word sent to the nurses on the sixth floor that I'm comfy and I'm not getting out of the bed I'm in and going back to my own room. Well, I'm kind of lying in bed with the detective who I was with last night," Alex explained. "Yes, I know it's against hospital policy for patients to share a bed – that's why I'm calling you. Because you're on the board! Pleeeeease?" Alex whined. "You're awesome Aunt Maggie. Yes, I would love to see you later this morning. I'll be in Detective Olivia Benson's room. See you later then, thanks Aunt Maggie, I really do appreciate it," Alex finished off her conversation. "Thank you," she smiled as she handed the phone back to Elliot. "I can't see the buttons to hang up. Sorry."

"Your Aunt is on the hospital board?" Elliot asked.

"Yeah, isn't everybody's?" Alex replied as she snuggled in closer to Olivia and wrapped an arm around the brunette's waist.

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

Olivia awoke to the uncomfortable feeling of being watched and found herself and Alex the objects of an unfamiliar woman's studious gaze. She instinctively tightened her arm around Alex, drawing the still sleeping blonde in closer to herself – an unconscious attempt to protect the painfully vulnerable woman.

The older brunette watching over them tipped her head in greeting and smiled graciously. "While I do appreciate you trying to protect our Alex even in your wounded state, I'm not a threat, Detective Benson. I'm Margaret Cabot."

"Aunt Maggie?" Olivia whispered.

"Yes," the older woman nodded. "How's she doing?" she nodded toward Alex.

Olivia grimaced as she tried to carefully adjust herself under the blonde, her heart warming as Alex whimpered in her sleep and her arm flexed to keep their bodies fused together. "She has a concussion. Couple broken bones in her face," Olivia murmured, unconsciously pressing a soft kiss to the unknowing blonde's forehead to calm her. "She's lucky."

"So are you," Maggie murmured, noting the way Olivia's features softened when she looked at Alex. "How is your shoulder?"

"I've had worse," Olivia answered honestly. "I'm more concerned about Alex, honestly."

"We Cabots have hard heads." Maggie smiled. "From the way she was pleading her case earlier I imagine she'll be back to bossing everybody around in no time."

Olivia chuckled softly. "I never thought I'd say this, but I can't wait for that to happen."

"I'm not bossy," Alex groaned as she turned her head so she could see her Aunt. Her left eye was completely swollen shut.

"You are," Maggie smiled at her niece, wincing inwardly at the sight of her injuries but pleased to see that Alex was finally awake – she had been sitting in their room for over an hour watching the two women sleep. "Extremely so. But it would appear that you've managed to find somebody to put up with you despite that – so you should consider yourself quite lucky Alexandra."

"Mmm," Alex smiled and squeezed Olivia gently.

"Maybe we need to get your head examined again Alex," Olivia smiled, pleased beyond words at the blonde's response to her Aunt's comment. "You are way too agreeable."

"Not going anywhere," Alex muttered, snuggling in tighter to Olivia and resting her head on the gentle slope of the brunette's breast. "I'm comfy. You have nice pillows."

"And your morphine is making you quite amusing," Olivia chuckled.

"Just more honest and uninhibited," Alex yawned. "And sleepy."

Maggie watched her niece with an amused smile on her lips. "So, Alex, as you're extolling the virtues of Detective Benson's _'pillows'_, I'm assuming this means you've finally done something about your attraction to her rather than just mooning pathetically over her from a distance?"

Olivia looked between the two Cabot women and tried to hide her surprise. She knew that there was _something_ going on between her and Alex that exceeded the boundaries of platonic friendship – but she'd had no idea that Alex was had spoken of it to others, especially her family.

"Not exactly," Alex answered softly, realizing that she A said the pillow comment out loud, and B was just embarrassingly outed by her aunt.

Maggie noticed Olivia's slightly shocked expression and realized her mistake immediately. "I'm going to run down to Madison's Deli and grab some lunch. No Cabot in their right mind - even in their drug addled, severely concussed mind - would ever consent to eating hospital food. Except for my brother who went to med school, but he's always been a little weird. What would you girls like?" she inquired, quickly thinking of a way to give her niece and the detective a few moments alone to talk through her erroneous slip. She'd just assumed from the way they were cuddling and the obvious love in Olivia's eyes whenever she looked at Alex that they were already a couple. Never mind all the stories she had heard about the brunette from Alex.

"I'm not hungry," Alex muttered.

"Well, now I know you're not feeling well," her aunt replied. "You never stop eating. I'll just grab you your usual and you can snack on it when you're feeling better. How about you dear?" she asked Olivia.

"I'll eat whatever," Olivia smiled. "I'm not picky."

"Then I'll just get you the same as Alex**,"** Maggie smiled warmly as she reached for her purse and stood. "I'll be back in thirty minutes or so with lunch."

"Thank you so much," Olivia replied.

"My pleasure dear," Maggie nodded as she made her way to the door. She placed one hand on the doorknob and looked back at her niece. "I'll see you girls in thirty minutes."

"Yes ma'am," Alex grumbled as she watched her aunt pull the door closed behind her as she left.

"Your aunt is quite a character," Olivia chuckled after the door clicked shut, slowly running her hand up and down Alex's side.

"That's one word for her," Alex replied, but Olivia could hear the smile in the blonde's voice.

"I like her," Olivia answered thoughtfully.

"Mmm," Alex murmured noncommittally.

"How are your pillows?" Olivia murmured as she rested her cheek against the top of Alex's head.

"I didn't mean to say that out loud," Alex grumbled as she moved her cheek back up to Olivia's shoulder. "Are you okay with me here?"

Olivia smiled and pressed a soft kiss to Alex's bruised forehead. "I asked you to come cuddle, remember?"

"Yeah," Alex sighed. "But that was before I was, well…"

"Outed?" Olivia offered with a smile.

"Yeah," Alex groaned, closing her eyes and turning her face into the brunette's shoulder. "I guess my secret's not so secret now, huh?"

"I'm glad it's not a secret anymore," Olivia confessed quietly.

"Are you?"

"Alex," Olivia murmured. "I've wanted this," she squeezed the blonde indicatively, "for quite a while."

"Really?" Alex slowly moved to prop herself up on her elbow so she could look into Olivia's eyes.

"Mmm," Olivia smiled. "Really. I wasn't kidding earlier when I told you that I'd imagined asking you to come to bed with me many times."

"I believe you said _'many, many, times'_," Alex smirked, her playfulness returning with the realization that her affections were reciprocated.

"Figures that through all the morphine you'd remember that," Olivia chuckled as she squeezed the blonde affectionately.

"How many times?" Alex asked, genuinely curious as to the brunette's answer.

"How many nights has it been since you started with SVU?" Olivia answered the prosecutor's question with one of her own.

"Wow," Alex murmured. "That's a long time."

Now it was Olivia's turn to look embarrassed. "I knew I shouldn't have told you that."

Alex smiled and rested her forehead against Olivia's, her one good eye focused on the brown in front of her as she confessed quietly, "I've thought about being with you like this since the first day I met you too."

"You fantasized about having a broken face and cuddling with a gunshot victim? You are quite the masochist aren't you?" Olivia joked.

"Har har, smartass," Alex chuckled.

"How's your head?" Olivia murmured, brushing the tip of her nose against Alex's.

"It's okay," Alex lied.

Olivia smiled, not believing the blonde's too-smooth response. "How dizzy are you?"

"Very," Alex murmured. "But you always have that affect on me."

"Aww, how sweet – I make you feel like you have a concussion," Olivia chuckled playfully.

"You're not funny, you know." Alex couldn't help but grin.

"I'm hilarious," Olivia retorted. "And if you don't like my jokes, make me stop."

"I can do that," Alex smiled, leaning in closer to the brunette, nuzzling Olivia's cheek with her nose. "I bet I can make you just as dizzy as I am."

"Quite a high and mighty view we have of ourselves, eh Counselor?" Olivia murmured, her tongue reflexively wetting her lips as her eyes focused on the blonde's lips.

"Mmm," Alex smiled as she closed the distance separating them. "I've wanted to do this for so long Olivia," she whispered into their shared air, her heartbeat racing as she held her position and let the anticipation of the moment build. "I've dreamed of kissing you, of feeling your lips moving against mine. Fantasized about the way your tongue would feel stroking, massaging mine, the way you would taste...," she let her description trail off as she slowly, so slowly tilted her head to the side and began to finally close the finite distance between them.

"God Alex," Olivia breathed as she felt the featherlike brush of Alex's lips against hers before the blonde playfully pulled back, the electricity from that delicate caress an implicit promise of what was to come.

They were so wrapped up in each other, so engrossed in the hypnotic spell that their confessions had woven around and between them, that they failed to notice the door to the room opening until a booming voice called out, "Hey Ladies! I brought you…," Elliot's voice trailed off as he finally took in the intimate scene before him. "Sorry," he squeaked.

"Cockblock," Alex muttered and dropped her head to Olivia's shoulder, groaning softly as the movement brought on another wave of vertigo.

For as frustrated as Olivia was at the untimely interruption, she couldn't help but start laughing at Alex's outburst.

"I'm sorry," Elliot stammered. "I can come back later if you want to be alone."

"Forget it," Alex grumbled. "You officially killed the moment. Just know that I hate you right now Stabler."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," he shrugged. "I am sorry though."

Olivia gave her partner a look that he instantly recognized as her _give me a couple minutes_ look and he quietly ducked out of the room. She waited until he was out of sight before she squeezed Alex with her good arm and murmured, "We'll finish this later sweetie. I promise."

Alex looked up at the brunette and whined pathetically, "But I want to kiss you now."

"You're adorable," Olivia smiled and kissed Alex tenderly and all too briefly as far as Alex was concerned. "There, now we'll get to the good stuff when we won't have an audience."

"You promise?"

"Double-triple pinky swear, cross my heart and hope to die," Olivia replied.

Alex looked at the brunette and scowled. "You hang out with Stabler too much."

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

By the time Maggie Cabot returned with their lunch, Elliot was already on his way back to the precinct to give a statement to Serena Southerlyn who was going to be prosecuting Alex and Olivia's attacker. He also relayed that Walker's DNA matched the DNA from the previous three victims' rape kits. So, although it didn't go as planned, Alex and Olivia had done exactly what they had hoped and stopped the rapist terrorizing the Village.

Maggie helped Alex off of Olivia's bed and back into her wheelchair so that she could eat, noting the easy comfort between her niece and the brunette as the two women shared tender glances and gentle touches as they ate. Not long after they finished their lunch, the doctor who was assigned to their cases dropped in to check on them and see how everything was going. Alex passed with flying colors, the food having helped diminish some of her vertigo symptoms and she was able to actually track the penlight as he waved it up and down and side to side. He announced that her pupil was dilating appropriately and that she would be able to leave the following morning.

Olivia watched his examination of Alex and hoped that hers would go as positively so that way she could get out of the hospital soon too. She really hated hospitals. She didn't get an _in the morning_ promise like Alex, but the doctor didn't rule out the possibility of her being discharged sometime later tomorrow afternoon. He wanted to keep an eye on the wound and make sure there wasn't any sign of infection before he took her off of the IV antibiotics.

Much to Alex's delight she was informed that she would be able to remain with Olivia; much to her displeasure, she was ordered into the empty bed beside Olivia's and instructed that if she wanted to be discharged in the morning then she needed to stay in her own bed for the remainder of the day and rest. She tried to negotiate with the man, but he just listened to her entire argument before shooting her down. Olivia could have sworn she heard him laughing softly to himself as he left muttering, _"That girl is a Cabot through-and-through, old Bill must be proud of her._"

"Stupid doctor," Alex grumbled petulantly after he left the room.

Her aunt just laughed. "Alex, honey, you have a serious concussion. You need to rest."

"I was resting earlier," Alex replied playfully. "You saw me. It was the best sleep I've had in years. But I did find a loophole to his demand and I need you to help me," she arched her brows at her Aunt.

"And what loophole would that be dear?" Maggie chuckled, well accustomed to the favorite Cabot pastime of finding a way to get what they want while technically staying within the defined rules.

"He only said I have to stay in my own bed, he didn't say it had to be over here," Alex announced proudly. "Can you move my bed over next to Olivia's?"

Maggie chuckled. "And what makes you think I can do that?"

"The bed's on wheels!" Alex giggled, her most recent morphine dose hitting her system.

"It's still a two person job Alex honey," Maggie smiled indulgently.

"Then it's a good thing there's a second person here to help," a familiar friendly voice drawled from the doorway.

Alex and Olivia looked up at the owner of the voice and broke into identical smiles.

"Hey!" Alex yelled. "What are you doing here?"

"I was in town meeting with McCoy about something else and heard from Southerlyn that you two got hurt," Abbie Carmichael explained. "Hi Maggie."

"Abbie," Maggie Cabot smiled. "You're just as beautiful as ever my dear."

"You're such a tease Maggie," Abbie grinned before turning her attention to the two women in matching hospital beds. "How are you two feeling?"

"Like Laila Ali kicked my ass," Alex answered.

"Like I have a hole in my shoulder," Olivia quipped.

"So, no pickup basketball game tonight, huh Benson?" Abbie grinned.

"You gonna help move the bed, or not Carmichael?" Alex cut in.

"Depends," she drawled.

"On what?" Alex asked.

"Somebody gonna tell me why you two wanna get all up close and personal?"

"Let's just say that you can FINALLY get off my ass," Alex grinned.

Abbie looked from Alex to one very confused Olivia Benson. "You told her?"

Alex nodded.

"Well hot damn, let's get this bed over there then!" Abbie laughed as she began walking around Alex's bed and kicking off the brakes.

"This isn't a NASCAR race Carmichael," Alex laughed at Abbie's ridiculous car sounds as she and Maggie steered Alex's bed over toward Olivia's.

"Yeah," Abbie sighed, sounding mildly disappointed. "I bet we could have an awesome race with the wheelchairs though."


	5. Chapter 5

…

**_Part 5_**

"I can't believe Maggie managed to talk the doctor into discharging both of us this morning," Olivia gushed as she pulled the duffle full of clean clothes that Elliot had dropped off for her up onto her bed. "I can't wait to get out of here."

"She's definitely one of a kind," Alex agreed as she watched the brunette carefully for any signs of severe discomfort. "I think her little white lie that we lived together probably didn't hurt matters either though."

"Yeah," Olivia nodded.

Alex appraised Olivia, noting the way the brunette held herself so stiffly and compensated for her injured shoulder with the rest of her body. "Do you need help getting dressed?" she asked.

Olivia looked at the folded clothes in her bag and realized that she wouldn't be able to get dressed by herself. "Would you mind?" she blushed.

"Not at all," Alex smiled reassuringly as she stood and went to close the door to their room. That done, she crossed the room to stand in front of Olivia and pulled the sliding curtain around them, effectively separating them from the world. "How do you want to do this?" she asked.

Olivia just smiled and rolled her good shoulder out of her hospital gown before gingerly guiding it off her injured one, leaving her standing in front of the gobsmacked blonde in nothing but a pair of black cotton boyshorts. A bra would have to wait until her shoulder was a little less tender.

"Hello," Alex breathed as her eyes took in the magnificent sight before her. It was all she could do to keep from drooling over the sight of the brunette's toned abs and marvelous breasts. She didn't think it would be possible for the reality to better her fantasy but, for once in her life, she was more than happy to have been wrong about something.

Olivia smiled as she watched Alex ogle her, her ego bolstered and her nagging fears of _what if she doesn't find me attractive_ soothed at the blonde's obvious appreciation of her body. "See something you like Counselor?" she chuckled.

"Sorry," Alex apologized quickly, realizing that she had been staring. She forced herself to look into Olivia's eyes that, she noticed, were twinkling with amusement. "Here's your shirt," she murmured as she held the top out and did her best to keep her gaze focused on Olivia's face as the brunette slowly maneuvered herself into the shirt.

She watched Olivia's face as the brunette slipped her injured arm inside its sleeve, noting the tightening of her eyes as she manipulated her injury and managing to only look down twice at the most marvelous breasts on the planet that were swinging slightly with the brunette's movement. Once Olivia's bad arm was in Alex moved herself around behind the brunette, licking her lips appreciatively at the sight of the detective's gorgeous well muscled back and imagining how wonderful it will feel to finally be wrapped in the strength and safety of that glorious body, stopping behind Olivia's left side and holding the shirt up so Olivia could slide her good arm inside.

Olivia, having heard Alex's soft moans as the blonde surreptitiously ogled her, quickly worked her good arm into its sleeve and pulled the flaps of the shirt over her breasts, leaving the middle of her torso exposed behind the unbuttoned top. She took half a step back as she turned to face the blonde and held her good arm out to her side, seemingly offering herself up for inspection.

Alex let her gaze rake the detective's semi-covered body and concluded that flannel had never looked so fucking sexy in its entire existence.

"Alex," Olivia murmured playfully.

Alex once again had to force her eyes northward to find the brunette's amused gaze leveled on her. "Sorry," she murmured.

"I meant for you to look at me," Olivia chuckled and kissed the tip of the blonde's nose.

"So you're a tease," Alex surmised, pleased to hear that her voice didn't crack when she spoke.

"Mmm," Olivia leaned in and captured the blonde's lips in an adoring kiss, reveling in the fact that she actually could kiss Alex just because she wanted to. "Think of it as a sneak preview for when we're finally alone."

"Good lord," Alex groaned.

"You ready for the rest of the show?" Olivia laughed, enjoying the visual of Alex's obvious arousal. She could not wait to get the blonde in bed and see what she really looked like after a long night of lovemaking.

"Huh?" Alex breathed, desperately fighting her increasing arousal so she could focus on the seemingly schizophrenic conversation they were having.

"I would really love to put on a clean pair of underwear," Olivia grinned as she held a new pair of blue boyshorts aloft.

_Sweet Jesus_, Alex thought as she openly considered the situation before her, her still concussed mind working clumsily through everything that had happened until she came to the most viable end result of the little scenario that was taking place. She might have been momentarily taken aback, momentarily knocked off her game by the cunning Detective's opening gambit with her surprise disrobement, but she was Alex Cabot – and Alex Cabot was notorious for thinking fast on her feet for a reason.

She arched a perfectly sculpted brow and smirked playfully as she reached out and snagged the underwear out of the surprised detective's hand. Alex carefully lowered herself to her knees in front of the brunette, blue eyes holding brown captive as she slowly ran her fingertips up the front of Olivia's thighs.

"Ready?" Alex murmured as she hooked her thumbs under the waistband of Olivia's underwear.

"God," Olivia groaned, realizing and accepting the fact that she had just managed to lose the little game that she'd started.

Both of them realized that Olivia's answer wasn't really an answer to Alex's question, but neither could really be bothered to care enough to draw attention to the fact.

Alex moaned softly as she slid the boyshorts over Olivia's hips exposing a neat patch of dark downy curls, groaned loudly when she felt the brunette's fingers tangled themselves in her hair as she worked the fabric down past her knees. She closed her eyes and fought the nearly overwhelmingly powerful urge to bury her face in the tempting, oh so tempting, juncture of Olivia's thighs as she helped the brunette out of the black pair before she slid the blue ones on and made the return trip up the brunette's muscular legs, finally pulling them up into place. Once they were on, Alex allowed herself a moment's weakness as she leaned in and nuzzled Olivia's mound through the cotton, earning a loud hiss of pleasure and an even louder whimper when she pulled away to stand.

"And you called me a tease?" Olivia groaned, shifting slightly where she stood before Alex.

Alex smiled and began buttoning the brunette's shirt, making sure to trail the backs of her fingers over the delicious swell of the detective's breasts as she worked. She left the top two buttons undone and chuckled as she captured Olivia's mouth with her own, her tongue immediately seeking entrance and deepening the kiss. When the need for air forced her to pull back she murmured, "Think of it as a sneak preview for when we're finally alone."

"Oh good lord," Olivia groaned.

Alex just laughed. "Ready for your jeans?"

"No," Olivia laughed.

"C'mon Liv," Alex cajoled. "I'll be good this time, promise."

Olivia smiled and stepped into the jeans that Alex held out for her. "I don't know if that's a good thing or not at this point," she muttered.

Once she had gotten Olivia dressed and ready to go, Alex turned her attention to herself, anxious to get dressed and get the fuck out of Dodge. A quick glance at the clock showed her that Maggie would be returning shortly with Abbie to help them back to Alex's apartment.

"Oh hell no," Alex murmured as she dug through the bag of clothes that Abbie had dropped off for her.

"What?" Olivia asked, more than amused at the flustered expression on the blonde's face and curious as to what was causing the blush that was slowly creeping up Alex's neck.

"Nothing," Alex growled, digging deeper into the black bag, obviously searching for something. "Should have known better than to ask Carmichael to swing by my apartment to pick me up some clothes. You're so lucky you asked Stabler to grab yours."

"Alex," Olivia chuckled. "It can't be that bad, what did Abbie pick out for you?"

"Jeans," Alex pulled the pair of denim out of the bag.

"Well, that's nothing worth having a fit over," Olivia observed.

"They have a giant hole in the ass below the pocket," Alex held the pair up and turned them around to show Olivia the glaring absence of fabric below the left back pocket.

"Oh." Olivia couldn't help but laugh. "I know this is probably a stupid question, but why do you have a pair of jeans with a hole in the butt?"

"They're my lucky jeans," Alex explained. "They're the ones I wore when I passed the bar and I keep them around for when I'm having trouble with a case."

"Makes sense," Olivia nodded.

"Yeah," Alex threw them aside. "But apparently my ass hanging out of this hospital gown for the last twenty four hours wasn't enough for Ms. Carmichael – now I need to walk out of here with it hanging out of my jeans as well."

"They'll make us ride out in wheelchairs," Olivia told the irritated blonde.

"Great," Alex groaned. "Abbie will probably want to push me and she'll run us into the wall as she's racing some geriatrics patient down the hall."

"Are you regretting agreeing to letting her stay at your place to help out for the next couple days?" Olivia asked, her tone conveying her genuine concern over their situation.

"No," Alex answered honestly. For as much as she groused over the boisterous Texan's antics, she loved her dearly. "She's always entertaining and her heart is in the right place. Are you regretting agreeing to staying at my place with her?"

"No," Olivia smiled. "They wouldn't let me out of here if I didn't have somebody to stay with me. I'd much rather be with you than over at Elliot's place."

"Glad I rank higher than KinderCare," Alex chuckled self deprecatingly.

Olivia just smiled. "What else did Abbie pack for you?"

"A shirt and a jacket," Alex answered as she pawed through her bag.

"Again, that doesn't sound like anything to be embarrassed about," Olivia replied.

"Maybe I'll just wear this stupid gown on top of my jeans," Alex murmured thoughtfully as she fingered the material of the tee shirt inside the bag.

"It can't be that bad." Olivia grinned. "You're always impeccably dressed Alex. I doubt there's anything in your closet that could possibly make you this embarrassed."

"It was a gag gift that I forgot to throw out," Alex rolled her eyes as she explained.

"Show me."

"No," Alex crossed her arms over her chest.

"Please," Olivia batted her eyelashes.

Alex glowered at the playful brunette. "That's cheating."

"I know," Olivia laughed. "Just show me the damned shirt Alex."

Alex closed her eyes and pulled a navy-blue tee shirt out of the bag. Resigned to her fate, tossed it onto Olivia's lap. "Here," she huffed. "Happy?"

Olivia held up the shirt with her good arm and tried to keep from laughing as she read the slogan on it. She tried. She really did. And she failed. Miserably.

"Wow," she gasped. "Yes, yes I am. Very happy. This is very good to know," she hefted the shirt indicatively as she read the writing on the front aloud, "_I listen to the voices in my briefs_," in a mock-serious voice before succumbing to peals of laughter.

"Oh God," Alex groaned.

"What exactly do the voices in your briefs say?" Olivia squeaked as tears of laughter rolled down her cheeks.

Alex just covered her good eye with her hand and shook her head, refusing to answer and provide the brunette with any more ammunition to humiliate her with.

"Gah!" Olivia gasped as she fought to control her laughter. "Okay. Okay. Sorry. Hmmm. Okay. I'm better now," she giggled. "No. Never mind. No I'm not," she broke off into another gut-busting fit of giggles.

Alex smiled to herself as she watched the brunette laughing hysterically, amused and heartened at the sight of Olivia's joy in spite of the fact that it came at her own embarrassment. When she felt that the brunette was close to regaining control of herself she asked, "Are you done yet?"

Olivia nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Sorry."

"It's alright," Alex smiled.

"I never pictured you as a briefs kind of girl," Olivia giggled.

"Do I want to know what _kind of girl_ you imagined me to be?"

Olivia sucked in a deep calming breath, steadying herself before she answered. "Some of my more impure thoughts centered around black lace and… crotchless."

"Fuck," Alex breathed.

"What else did Abbie pack for you?" Olivia changed the direction of their conversation.

"I dunno," Alex shrugged and pulled the bag onto her lap. "Let's see," she reached in and pulled out a pair of blue and purple argyle socks.

"Wow – those are hot," Olivia teased.

"They're comfy," Alex replied as she tossed them onto her bed. "Oh god," the blonde groaned as she looked back into the now nearly empty bag. "She didn't."

"Knowing Abbie, she probably did," Olivia surmised. "What else did she pack for you?"

Alex bit her lip as an embarrassed blush lit up her face.

"Alex," Olivia sang.

"I'm going to kill her," Alex murmured. "I will. I will kill Abbie Carmichael. It will be slow … and painful … and I will kill her."

"Christ Cabot," Olivia laughed. "What is it?"

Alex sighed, resigned to her humiliation, as she reached into the bag to pull out a thin scrap of lingerie. "Panties. Black. Lace. Crotchless. Panties," she enunciated slowly as she held them up to show the inquisitive brunette.

"Fuck," Olivia breathed, her body responding immediately to the sight of the risqué lingerie dangling from Alex's index finger.

Alex watched Olivia suck her lower lip between her teeth and noted the way the brunette's chocolate eyes darkened with arousal just from seeing the underwear hanging off her finger. _Hmm, interesting. Can't wait to see what she looks like when I'm actually wearing them_, Alex though with a smirk as she reached back into the bag, all embarrassment gone with the brunette's obvious approval of the panties.

Olivia watched as Alex dropped the panties onto the bed and reached back into that magical, magical bag on her lap; completely captivated by the possibilities of what could be pulled out of there next.

"With the matching bra," Alex held the garment aloft.

"Oh sweet Jesus," Olivia groaned. "God I love Abbie."

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

"So, are you happy to be free of that place?" Abbie turned around in the passenger seat to look at Alex and Olivia who were holding hands in the back.

"Yes," Alex nodded.

"Yeah, I bet." Abbie grinned before she turned around. "You both seemed a little flushed when we came up to your room this last time, bet it'll be nice to get to an appropriately climate controlled apartment."

Olivia put her hand over her mouth to stifle her giggle and Alex stared daggers at the back of Carmichael's head. "I still haven't decided if I'm going to kill you or not Abs," Alex growled.

"Now that's not nice Alex," Maggie admonished, looking up at her niece in the rearview mirror. "Abbie has volunteered to help you two out for the weekend, why would you be so mean?"

"Yeah Cabot," Abbie chuckled. "What's got your panties in a twist?"

Olivia tried not to laugh. She really did. "Sorry!" She squeaked as she burst into another fit of laughter.

"I hate you all," Alex grumbled and shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

Abbie roared with laughter, not even trying to hold it in, and Olivia just shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks as she fought to contain her laughter.

"Can we just pretend to be adults for the rest of the drive?" Alex muttered.

"I hope to God what I packed you was for a grown up," Abbie crowed.

"What did you pack, dear?" Maggie asked.

Abbie sucked in a deep breath to help gain control of herself so she could answer. "Um, nothing," she lied.

"I don't believe you Abbie Carmichael," Maggie chuckled. "You forget that I know how that devious little mind of yours works."

"Sorry," Abbie offered.

"Not buying it Counselor," Maggie grinned. "Now, what did you do to Alex to have her blushing so badly?"

"I plead the fifth," Abbie answered with a grin.

Maggie pursed her lips as she thought through Abbie's sense of humor and the things the brunette would be most likely to do to embarrass her niece. "You packed some clothes for her. Did you do something mean like slip in a pair of edible underwear or something?"

"Um, no," Abbie stared, amazed that the elder Cabot had figured her out so completely. "They weren't edible. God, edible would have been great. I so wish I would have thought of that."

"So, crotchless then?" Maggie nodded knowingly.

"Yeah."

"Did you pack the matching stockings?"

"No," Abbie frowned, unsure as to where Maggie was going with this. "I couldn't find them."

"Oh god," Alex groaned.

"Shame," Maggie turned and grinned. "You missed a real opportunity there."

"Aunt Maggie!" Alex yelled from the backseat.

"I did pack the matching bra though," Abbie offered.

"That's good," Maggie nodded her approval. "A nice touch. It's really too bad that you missed the piece de resistance though."

"Sorry Maggie," Abbie murmured, properly abashed.

"Don't worry young Carmichael," Maggie reached over and patted the younger woman's leg reassuringly. "You still have plenty of time to learn secrets of the Force."

"I'm so fucking hosed," Alex groaned as she dropped her head back onto the seat and closed her eyes. "So. Fucking. Hosed."

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

Alex was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling when a tentative knock on the door drew her attention back to the room around her.

"Who is it?" she called out, propping herself up on an elbow to better look at the door. If it was Abbie on the other side there was no way she was letting her in.

"It's me," Olivia's answered. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah. C'mon in Liv."

Alex watched Olivia slowly open the door to her bedroom and step inside before quietly closing it behind herself. She lay back down, nestling her hands back under her head as she resumed staring at the eggshell paint covering her ceiling.

"What's going on?" Olivia asked softly as she lowered herself onto the edge of the bed beside the blonde.

"Just hiding," Alex murmured. "You can hide with me if you want."

"Well, thank you. But why are you hiding?"

"You were watching TV and when I came out of the kitchen I overheard Abbie and Aunt Maggie discussing the comfort level of different brands of edible underwear and decided that I've suffered enough because of them today."

"Oh," Olivia nodded, understanding the blonde's discomfort while being simultaneously disappointed that she missed Abbie and Maggie's conversation. "I see."

"I'm sorry I just left without telling you," Alex murmured. "I can only handle so much of those two together."

"They do make quite the pair," Olivia agreed.

"They're like long lost twins from different mothers separated by a few decades," Alex replied.

Olivia laughed. "That doesn't even make sense, but I get what you're saying. Scoot over so I can lie down too," she playfully pushed at Alex's hip.

Alex obligingly slid into the middle of the bed so Olivia could lie down beside her. "Comfy?"

"Almost," Olivia whispered. "Can I hold you again?"

Alex smiled and moved to lay her head on the brunette's shoulder. "Better?"

"Mmm," Olivia murmured as she wrapped her arm around Alex's waist and pulled the blonde in tight. "Much," she continued through a yawn.

"Naptime?" Alex offered.

"Sounds heavenly," Olivia answered, her voice giving away the fact that she already halfway to dreamland.

+++/\+++/\+++/\+++

Alex awoke to the sound of her bedroom door opening and a quick glance at the alarm showed that they had been sleeping for nearly three hours. She lifted her head to see Abbie framed by the glow of the hall light. "Whattaya want Carmichael?" she whispered.

"Sorry to wake you," Abbie whispered, looking genuinely apologetic as she took a couple quiet steps into the room. "But Serena's here and she really needs to get your statements. She held off as long as she could, but she needs to get it done."

"Yeah," Alex groaned softly. "I understand. Can you help me up? I don't want to wake Liv."

"You don't want her with you when you do this?" Abbie asked softly as she gently lifted Olivia's arm off of Alex's waist so the blonde could roll deftly out of the bed.

"No," Alex murmured as she slowly got to her feet. "She doesn't need to hear what happened in that alley."

Abbie frowned and nodded as she followed Alex out of the room, carefully closing the door without a sound after them. "You know she's heard and seen worse, right?"

"Yes," Alex ran a hand through her hair. "But I don't want her worrying about me."

"She's gonna worry about you Cabot."

"I know," Alex sighed. "But she doesn't need to hear this like this," she waved indicatively toward the dining room table where Serena was waiting. "I'll tell her, but I don't want it to be with an audience."

"Gotcha," Abbie nodded. "So, when you're done you can wake up Olivia so she can give her statement and maybe you and I can go and pick up some dinner for the four of us?"

"Where's Maggie?" Alex looked the living room, realizing that her aunt was nowhere to be seen.

"She left about an hour ago when Serena showed up."

"Oh," Alex's brow scrunched with concentration. "So, what were you and Serena doing out here for the last hour?"

"Um, I plead the fifth."

"You better not have been on my new couch Abs."

"Don't you worry your pretty little head over that Cabot," Abbie drawled playfully. "Your couch wasn't defiled. The rug however…"

"You know what, I don't want to know. You can clean it later. How long have you two been together?" Alex waved at Serena, not surprised that Abbie was with her because Abbie always did have a thing for smart blondes but surprised that Carmichael hadn't shared the fact with her.

"About a month, so go easy on us, okay? It's still new and I don't want to scare her off."

"Yeah right," Alex laughed. "Go easy on you. You mean like how you were with me and Liv?"

"That's different." Abbie grinned her Cheshire cat grin.

"How, pray tell?"

"You two have been in love with each other for the last two years," Abbie explained in her best _I can't believe you're this stupid_ tone of voice. "So, I'm just helping you slide on home partner."

"You did not just use a base analogy for my relationship with Olivia," Alex groaned.

"You will be so much more fun once you finally get laid Cabot," Abbie grinned.


	6. Chapter 6

**_…_**

**_Part 6_**

"So once he dragged you down into the alley what happened?" Serena asked, pen held ready above her yellow legal pad.

Alex sighed and closed her eyes. "He threw me onto a trashcan so I was bent over it," she murmured. "One of his hands was on my back, up between my shoulders, and he was trying to get my jeans down with his other hand."

"Was he saying anything?"

"Yeah." Alex nodded.

Serena sighed. "I know you don't really want to do this Al, but I need the specifics."

"He was ranting, going on and on about how my '_little cunt bitch whore of a girlfriend'_ wasn't half the man he was and that he was going to '_fuck me straight'_ and how all I needed was '_a good deep dicking'_ to make me _'better'_," Alex whispered, doing her best to keep her mind from returning back to that alley.

"What a sicko," Abbie muttered from her position on the couch where she was pretending to watch television while Alex and Serena talked. "You better nail his ass Serena."

"And at some point during all this he struck you, knocking you unconscious," Serena prompted Alex, ignoring Abbie's comments.

"Yes." Alex nodded.

"Why?"

"Apparently he didn't like me telling him that the tampon in his pants wouldn't be enough to fuck anybody properly let alone straight."

"You seriously fucking mocked the goddamn rapist?" Abbie yelped.

"I was mad," Alex said, not sounding apologetic or sorry in the least.

Serena just shook her head. "Why Alex?"

"I bought me enough time for Elliot to catch up to us and stop him," Alex explained. "I wasn't strong enough to protect myself, I had to do something," she looked at the blonde attorney across from her stubbornly. "Worst case scenario was that I wouldn't be conscious while he, well, you know…," she let her voice trail off.

"Oh Alex," Serena murmured and reached out to hold her friend's hand.

"Worst case scenario was that he'd shoot your ass," Abbie grumbled.

"It's okay. I'm okay," Alex stated, her voice solid and calm, as she pulled her hand out from under Serena's and ran it over the uninjured side of her face. "What time is it?" she asked, noticing how she was beginning to feel itchy which was a definite sign that her pain medications were wearing off.

Serena glanced at her watch. "Four thirty."

"I need to take my meds and I'm going to have to take Olivia hers." Alex pushed up from the table. "Doc said to make sure that we don't let them wear all the way off because then we'll never get the pain back under control. Is there anything else you need from me?"

Serena flipped through her notes. "I think I got everything I need. From the other victim's statements, plus DNA, plus the fact that he shot a police officer – this one is a slam-dunk. I can't believe the idiot's lawyer actually let him plead not guilty and didn't try and plead it out."

"Don't jinx it," Alex warned as she turned to go into the kitchen for their pills. She knew how easy it was for a slam-dunk case to become a '_Did that really just happen?'_ case.

"Yeah, I know." Serena leaned back in her chair and stretched. "I am going to need a quick statement from Olivia though."

"I know." Alex nodded. "Just, give her a few minutes to wake up and let her meds start working. I don't want her pushing it; she really should still be in the hospital."

+++/+++\+++

Alex quietly opened the door to her bedroom and quickly moved inside. From the light filtering in from the hall behind her she could see Olivia on the bed, could see the way the detective's brow was furrowed with distress. As she got closer she could see the way Olivia's hand on her uninjured arm was flexing and could make out the faint whimpers falling from the proud woman's lips.

She quickly closed the distance to the bed, practically dropping the glass of water she was holding onto the bedside table in her rush to comfort Olivia.

"Liv, baby," she cooed, running a hand over the sleeping woman's jaw. "Honey, wake up."

"Alex, no not Alex," Olivia moaned, still stuck in her dream.

"Oh Liv," Alex murmured, tears springing to her own eyes as she realized what Olivia was dreaming about. "Baby, wake up." She leaned in and kissed the brunette tenderly. "I'm okay baby." She kissed her again. "Wake up Liv, come back to me."

"Alex," Olivia groaned, her voice still sleepy but the tenor changed enough to indicate that she was no longer trapped in her nightmare.

"Right here baby." Alex nodded, running her fingertips across the detective's forehead. "I'm right here. It was a dream, just a dream."

"Dream," Olivia echoed. "Nightmare," she whispered as brown eyes focused onto worried blue.

Alex closed her eyes and leaned in to capture the brunette's lips in a tender adoring kiss. "Yes Liv. But I'm right here. I'm okay."

"I was so scared," Olivia whispered, blinking rapidly to try and hold back her tears as scenes from her dream flashed back to her. Not that it was a fantastical dream, just a replay of the events they had managed to live through. And she hated herself for being so weak, for letting it weaken her – but reliving the feelings from that night, the fear and the agony that roared through her like a hurricane at the thought that she'd never get to hold Alex, to kiss Alex, to love Alex was enough to break her.

"Me too," Alex murmured, smoothing Olivia's hair reassuringly. "You want to talk about it?"

"No. Just, kiss me," Olivia answered, her voice rough, her eyes soft and pleading.

Understanding that what the brunette needed, physically and mentally needed, at that moment was reassurance that they were okay, reassurance that they were together, reassurance that they were alive, Alex complied to her soon-to-be lover's request and captured Olivia's lips gently with her own.

Alex had intended for the kiss to be soft and reassuring. Intended for it to be brief and tender. But the way Olivia opened her mouth to her and moaned appreciatively at the way she delicately stroked the brunette's tongue with her own drove all coherent noble thoughts right out of her mind. That moan was her undoing. That low, deep, throaty moan that sent a jolt of electricity through her body and settled at the apex of her thighs. She was helpless to contain her own growl of pleasure as she felt Olivia's hips roll up into her, helpless to contain her rising arousal at the feeling of the brunette's hard swollen nipples pressing up into her.

"God Liv," Alex gasped when the need for air forced her to pull away.

Olivia just smiled and licked her lips before lifting her head off the pillow to recapture Alex's lips with her own.

+++/+++\+++

"Is that your phone?" Serena looked up from her papers to get Abbie's attention.

"No." The brunette looked confused until she heard the ringtone. "That's Alex's phone."

"Well, should I answer it?" Serena held the Blackberry up questioningly.

"Yeah, go for it," Abbie drawled.

Serena shrugged and answered the phone. "Alex Cabot's phone."

"_Alex?"_ The voice on the other end asked.

"Um, no. This is Serena."

"_Sorry Serena dear, I didn't recognize your voice. It's Maggie. I was calling to see how Alex was feeling."_

"She's doing okay," Serena reported as she watched Olivia's phone start vibrating across the coffee table. "Might as well get that Abs," she called out.

"Yeah, yeah," Abbie muttered as she checked the caller ID on Olivia's phone and grinned as she answered. "Thank you for calling Madam Heather's House of Handcuffs. This is Abbie, how may I direct your call?"

Serena gaped. "Oh my god," she murmured, forgetting she still had Alex's aunt on the phone.

"_What did Abbie do now?"_ Maggie laughed.

"You don't want to know," Serena said as she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.

Abbie laughed. "Of course I wouldn't answer her phone like that for just anybody Stabler! You showed up on the caller ID. Did you know your ringtone is _Man I Feel Like a Woman_?"

"Alex is doing okay." Serena returned her attention to the phone in her hand. "She's just taken another dose of meds and we're going to have dinner soon."

"_Sounds good dear, tell her I'll call in the morning to check in again,_" Maggie chuckled, noticing the other woman's obvious distraction.

"Of course. See you soon Mags," Serena mumbled and hung up as she watched Abbie chatting amiably with Elliot.

"No, El, it really is!" Abbie laughed. "You want to talk to Liv? Yeah, she should be awake. Alex went back a few minutes ago to get her up, hold on."

Abbie kept the phone at her ear as she padded over to the hall that led to the bedrooms and stopped as she caught sight of what was happening on Alex's bed.

"Goddamn." She stopped and stared.

"_What?_" Elliot asked.

"That is the single fucking hottest thing I think I have ever seen," Abbie said as she cocked her head appreciatively at the sight of Alex and Olivia making out. "Serena, c'mere!" She waved her girlfriend over.

"_What is it?_" Elliot asked.

"Wow," Serena murmured. "That is hot."

"You don't want to know what your sister is up to El." Abbie licked her lips as she watched Alex's left hand slide up Olivia's stomach to palm her breast through her shirt. "Fuck," she breathed as she noticed the subtle rocking movement of the blonde's hips against Olivia's leg.

"Tell him she'll call him back," Serena murmured as she tugged on Abbie's arm, forcefully steering the brunette back toward the living room to give their friends some privacy.

"She'll call you back," Abbie husked into the phone and tossed it onto the couch, not bothering to see if it landed safely before she turned and gathered Serena in her arms and kissed the surprised blonde soundly.

+++/+++\+++

Alex groaned as she felt Olivia's hand slide under her shirt, teasing the strip of skin at the top of her jeans. It felt so good, so incredibly good, that she knew if they didn't stop soon she wasn't going to be able to – injuries and other people in the apartment be damned.

"Liv," she murmured, nuzzling the flushed and panting woman's cheek adoringly.

"Mmm." Olivia smiled as she easily flipped the button open on Alex's jeans and slid her hand inside. "God Alex," she moaned as she felt the heat radiating from the blonde's core.

"Fuck," Alex hissed as she felt Olivia's hand slide over her mound to cup her gently through her panties. The more noble half of her nature was happy she'd had an extra clean pair of real underwear in her bag so that way she wasn't wearing the crotchless ones that Abbie had packed for her. If she'd actually been able to feel Olivia's fingers against her decidedly wet and throbbing center, there was no way she'd ever be able to say what she knew she needed to say.

Taking the blonde's exhalation as encouragement, Olivia slid her hand in deeper so that the heel of her palm pressed into Alex's clit.

"God Liv," she groaned as her hips rolled up into the brunette's touch.

"Hmm," Olivia hummed as she traced a finger over Alex's slit through her thoroughly ruined panties.

It took all of her self-control, but she was able to utter the three words she knew, knew in her heart she needed to say. "Liv, baby, stop."

Surprised lust darkened brown eyes flashed open to gaze into twin pools of hazy blue desire. "Huh?"

Alex groaned and gently reached into her pants to guide Olivia's hand away from her sex. She did not want to do this. But she knew she needed to. Knew that in the long run it would be better to wait. "Not like this. I don't want our first time to be like this."

Still struggling to follow the blonde's train of thought, Olivia flicked her eyes down their bodies to their now joined hands onto of her stomach before returning them to Alex's steady, albeit heavily aroused, gaze. "What? You don't want to…" her voice trailed off.

"No, Liv, no," Alex murmured, kissing the confused brunette softly. "I want. Dear God, do I want. I've never wanted anything more."

"Then why?"

Alex sighed and leaned in to rest her forehead against Olivia's, taking a few seconds to find the words to best explain what she was thinking. "When I do get to finally make love to you," she murmured, "I want to take my time enjoying every facet of your amazingly sexy body. I want to focus on how you respond to my touch, luxuriate in the sounds you make as I kiss every inch of you. I want to revel in the sounds that fall from your lips as I stroke, lick, and suck you to orgasm."

"Fuck," Olivia whimpered, her sex clenching needfully at the blonde's smoky description.

"And I want you to take your time as you touch me, taste me, love me," Alex continued. "I want to savor the feeling of your hands, lips, teeth, and tongue on my body. I have dreamed of this for so long Liv; I don't want our first time to be a quickie snuck in while there are other people in the front room waiting for us. I want our first time to be slow, passionate, and thorough – none of which we have the time for right now," she finished softly. "Is that okay?"

Olivia bit her lip and nodded slowly. She did understand. And for as much as she wanted, needed, physically needed Alex, she knew that the blonde ADA was right. "We better get out of bed then." She grinned. "Because with the way I'm feeling and the picture you just painted in my head – if you don't get off me soon, you better be planning on getting me off soon."

Alex's brows shot up in surprise and she chuckled softly. "Trust me baby, when the time is right – I will definitely be _getting you off_… frequently."

Olivia smiled and kissed the blonde quickly. "I'm counting on that Counselor," she murmured.

+++/+++\+++

"Well, hell," Abbie drawled as she spied Alex and Olivia walking hand-in-hand down the hall toward the living room. "Look what the pussy dragged in."

"I don't think that's how the saying goes, even down in the South," Alex chuckled.

"Eh." Abbie grinned. "Whatever. You guys got some phone calls while you were, erm, busy."

"You saw." Alex stared at the grinning lanky Texan.

Abbie at least had the grace to look mildly abashed.

"You're such a pervert Carmichael," Alex chuckled.

"With a show like that," Abbie waved back toward the bedroom. "Even the straightest straight woman on the planet would have had serious thoughts of joining the festivities."

"Oh god." Olivia blushed, knowing that Abbie wasn't likely to let them live this one down anytime soon. At least they had kept their clothes on.

"You ready to give me a quick statement Liv?" Serena asked as she made her way over to the dining room table.

Olivia nodded. "Um, yeah, sure."

"Abbie and I will go and pick up some Chinese," Alex offered.

"Are you okay to do that?" Serena asked Alex, concern tinting her voice.

"It's two blocks." Alex shrugged. "I'll be fine. It'll be nice to get a little fresh air. Liv, you want your usual?"

Olivia smiled and nodded. "Thank you."

Abbie clapped her hand together. "Alright. You two get the work stuff done so once we get back this is officially a work-free zone."

Alex, Olivia, and Serena collectively rolled their eyes at the Texan's mock enthusiasm. "Whatever Abs," Serena chuckled. "Just go get food, I'm hungry."

"Yeah." Abbie nodded thoughtfully. "Need you to get your energy up for later," she said with a wink as she turned to grab her jacket off the rack by the door and slipped her arms into it.

Alex just shook her head in disbelief at her friend's antics. "We'll be right back," she told Olivia, leaning into the brunette and kissing her softly.

"I'll be here," Olivia assured her playfully.

+++/+++\+++

"What made you think that the rapist would attack on Thursday night?" Serena asked Olivia as she flipped her notepad to a clean page.

Olivia sighed and shifted in her chair. "All of the previous victims were blonde and had been to Sugarland for their Blonde Bombshell night."

"So, knowing that he had a preference for a certain aesthetic you asked Alex to assist you in trying to find him."

"Yes." Olivia nodded.

"Why ask her?" Serena asked, curious as to Olivia's reasoning. "Surely there are blonde female police officers you could have used."

"The three priors all wore glasses, so we thought that using Alex as bait would be the most beneficial."

"Why?"

"Because she's absolutely breathtaking in her glasses," Olivia answered softly, her eyes glazing over as she pictured her favorite blonde looking at her through those delicious black frames.

Serena cleared her throat.

"Sorry." Olivia blushed. "We just figured that if we wanted a blonde in glasses to draw his attention that Alex would be our best shot."

"So the squad decided this?"

"Yes."

"Who sought Alex's assistance?"

"I did," Olivia answered. "Cragen thought she'd be more receptive to the idea if I presented it to her."

"Why?"

"We've always had a special kind of rapport." Olivia smiled. "And as nobody knew for sure if she was gay or not, they thought it'd go over more smoothly if it was a woman asking her to 'pretend'."

Serena's pen slipped out of her fingers as she listened to Olivia talk about how nobody knew if Alex was gay or not. "You didn't know?" she asked softly.

Olivia smiled and shook her head. "Not definitively. I knew what I felt for her, but all of her flirting until that night was always just this side of inappropriate – it could have easily been classified as either flirting or just playful banter."

"So what happened after she agreed to assist you and your team?" Serena returned their focus to the task at hand.

"She asked me to go as her date," Olivia said, a wide grin tweaking her lips at the memory.

"Um, and that wasn't like being hit with a clue-by-four?" Serena chuckled.

"More like a one-by-clue," Olivia corrected. "I didn't really know how she felt until we were dancing at the club."

"Alex can certainly dance." Serena smiled.

"Ummmhmmm." Olivia smiled at the memory of the way Alex's statuesque body molded to her own, the way the blonde watched her with those stormy blue eyes as she ground herself onto her thigh.

Serena laughed. "By the look on your face right now Olivia I think you two need to go dancing again once you're both all healed up."

Olivia licked her lips and nodded thoughtfully. "I think you might be right."

"Okay, enough girl talk," Serena chuckled. "What happened after you left the club?"

+++/+++\+++

Alex and Abbie dropped their bags of food onto the kitchen island and were on their way back to the front door to hang up their coats and kick off their shoes when Olivia noticed the distinct aura of barely restrained anger emanating off of Alex.

"Hey-" she grabbed the younger woman's arm as she passed, pulling her up next to her. "What's up Alex?"

The blonde shrugged, not meeting Olivia's eyes. "Nothing."

"Hey," Olivia murmured, cupping the uninjured side of Alex's face tenderly. "Talk to me."

"People are stupid, that's all," Alex muttered as she shrugged Olivia's hand off her arm and went back to the kitchen.

"Abigail," Olivia turned to Carmichael.

"I didn't do it!" Abbie held her hands up defensively. "She didn't lie either, people are fucking idiots."

"What happened?"

"Pointing, whispering, some not-so-quiet comments about the _'poor girl who was abused'." _Abbie ran a hand through her hair as she tried to explain. "I've gotten used to her bruising so I didn't think anything of going out to get food. Apparently we should have ordered in."

"I see." Olivia nodded. "You two clear off the table, I'll go help Alex with the plates."

"Okay," Serena agreed as she elbowed Abbie into action.

Olivia entered the kitchen to find Alex studying her reflection in the side of the toaster. It broke her heart to see the normally elegant blonde who never gave a thought to what other people thought of her so upset over her appearance.

"You're beautiful," Olivia murmured as she crossed the room and wrapped her one good arm around the blonde. "You're still beautiful."

Alex sighed and set the toaster back down on the counter. "I know I shouldn't care what people say, but it just…" her voice trailed off as she tried to figure out how to put what she was feeling into words. "I know this is going to sound conceited, but I'm used to people looking at me, I'm used to the occasional comment – but they've always been complementary. It was just a little shocking to see how rude and inconsiderate people could be to a perfect stranger."

"People are stupid." Olivia kissed the back of the blonde's neck affectionately. "Just ignore them."

"Two people wanted to call the cops on Abbie for beating me so badly and having the gall to go out with me in public looking like this," Alex shared, leaning her head back onto Olivia's shoulder.

"Now that," Olivia chuckled, "I would have loved to've seen. C'mon sweetheart," she squeezed Alex gently. "You get the plates and I'll send Abbie in for the food. After dinner we'll pop in a movie and just cuddle up and relax, okay?"

Alex nodded and did as she was told, carefully gathering four plates and carefully placing four sets of chopsticks on top of them to take out to the table.

"Um, Alex." Olivia smiled as she leaned in and pulled one set of chopsticks off the stack and replaced it with a fork. "While I am extremely talented with some of the things I can do with my left hand, eating Chinese with chopsticks isn't one of them."

Alex looked over at Olivia and grinned. "What talents does that left hand of yours possess Detective Benson?"

Olivia leaned in and captured Alex's lips in a searing kiss. "They mostly revolve around more, carnal activities," she murmured teasingly as she turned and left the kitchen and the shell-shocked blonde without a backwards glance.


	7. Chapter 7

**_…_**

**_Part 7_**

Alex sighed as she lowered herself onto the couch; turning so that her back was resting against the arm, one leg was bent and pressed against the back cushions, the other dangling over the edge with her toes lightly brushing the floor. One hand rested on her bent knee, her arm hanging loose over the gap, with her other draped carefully across the crown of her head. She closed her eyes, taking a moment to relax, to disappear into her own mind, to try and forget everything bad that had happened to her in the last forty-eight hours.

_Has it only been two days?_, she couldn't help but think as she ran through everything that had happened from the club, to her and Olivia's confessions, to now. _I've always laughed when people told me that life could change in the blink of an eye, told them that they were being melodramatic. But they were right. Damn were they right. I just never imagined mine would, or even could, change so quickly._

Olivia stood frozen in the doorway separating the kitchen and the living room, oblivious to the _clink_ and _clatter_ of dishes being rinsed and set into the dishwasher behind her as she studied the beautiful blonde stretched out on the couch in front of her.

_My god she is beautiful. So incredibly beautiful._

Her eyes started at Alex's feet, noting the red polish that contrasted so beautifully with her perfect alabaster skin, before moving on, higher, past a bent knee and over a trim and deceptively powerful thigh. Her mind wandered to her memory of how that thigh felt pressed up against her while they danced, how it fit so perfectly between her own. Sliding higher, stopping for a moment on the juncture of her thighs to imagine the moment when she would finally, finally be able to kiss those sensitive folds, before moving on, still moving higher. Up over her flat stomach, pausing to reflect for a moment on the subtle definition that those muscles showed when Alex was without a shirt before continuing her trek up the blonde's body. Her eyes lingered for a few heartbeats to truly appreciate the proud and pert mounds straining against the material of the blonde's shirt; enjoying their shape, which was emphasized by the way, Alex was resting her arms atop her head. Olivia's tongue slipped out, unconsciously wetting her lips as the desire to capture the pert nubs hidden under Alex's clothes between her lips and suckle, nip, and tease them to attention rolled through her.

_So beautiful._

Olivia's gaze moved higher, still higher, over the graceful column of Alex's exposed throat to focus on her lips. Those perfect, perfect, soft kissable lips that made her feel things that no other lips had ever come close to making her feel. Moving on, higher, still higher, past scrumptiously defined cheekbones – cheekbones somehow made more beautiful by the glaring contrast between them, one bruised and swollen and the other pristine and unharmed – to focus on her glasses, those ridiculously sexy glasses that framed the most beautiful blue eyes she'd ever seen. Eyes that were closed for the moment, but that when open made her feel as if they could see into her very soul. Twin pools of bottomless blue. Eyes that she could get lost in forever.

Eyes that suddenly flashed open to capture her own.

"Are you going to just stand there and look or are you going to come over here where you can actually touch?" Alex grinned.

"Busted," Abbie chuckled as she carefully slid past Olivia on her way into the living rom.

Olivia blushed and fell into step behind the brash Texan, slowly making her way over to where Alex was reclined so gracefully upon the couch. "Hey," she murmured.

"C'mon." Alex smiled and opened her arms wide, inviting the brunette to join her. "Let me hold you for a change."

"Are you sure?" Olivia asked.

Alex just smiled. "More than sure."

Olivia nodded shyly as she lowered herself to the couch, gritted her teeth to hold in the grunt of pain that wanted to escape as she shifted and leaned back into Alex's body.

"There," Alex murmured, and Olivia would swear that she could hear the blonde's contented smile in her voice. "Now, isn't this better?"

"Mmm," Olivia hummed and shifted so that she could lay her head on Alex's chest. She smiled softly at the sound of Alex's heartbeat, so steady and sure beneath her ear.

Alex smiled and leaned her head in to press a soft adoring kiss to the top of Olivia's hair. "I could get used to holding you like this," she whispered.

Olivia burrowed deeper into Alex's embrace and sighed. "I could get used to you holding me like this," she admitted softly, for the first time in her life actually _enjoying_ being held.

"So, what did Elliot say when you called him back?" Alex asked, her breath warm on Olivia's cheek and her touch light on the brunette's stomach.

Olivia shivered at the sensations roiling through her courtesy of Alex's touch. "You know, the usual. Just checking in, seeing how we're doing. He said he wanted to try and stop by tomorrow, so I told him I'd check with you and let him know."

"Liv, why would you need to check with me?" Alex asked softly. "He's your friend, and he's worried about you."

Olivia just shrugged again. "It's your house Alex. I'm not going to just invite people over without checking with you first."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Liv, you can invite anybody over that you'd like. I don't care. This-" she squeezed the brunette carefully "-is all that I care about. As long as you're here with me, nothing else matters."

Olivia smiled and took a deep breath, holding it in for a few seconds before letting it out. "Okay," she breathed on the exhale. "Okay," she pulled her phone out of her pocket. "I'll text him back and let him know to just call first to make sure we're awake."

"Might want to phrase it as something other than you might still be in bed," Abbie chuckled.

"What did you tell him when he called earlier?" Olivia turned on Abbie.

"Yeah Abs," Alex joined in. "What, exactly, did you tell Elliot when you answered Olivia's phone?"

Abbie grinned mischievously. "Nothing. Just that you were busy and couldn't get to the phone at the time. Oh, and I might have said something about you two looking incredibly hot together."

"I'm never going to live this down," Olivia groaned and closed her eyes, turning her head into Alex's chest.

Alex, despite her building annoyance with Abbie, had to admit that she rather enjoyed having Olivia's face nestled between her breasts. _If only there were no clothes in the way and her lips were wrapped around my…_

"Why is his ringtone _Man I Feel Like a Woman_?" Abbie asked, effectively interrupting Alex's train of thought before she could get herself too worked up.

Olivia groaned. "Please, please, please tell me you didn't tell him that."

"Okay. I absolutely did not tell him that," Abbie replied, the shit-eating grin on her face negating her words. "Why is that his ringtone?"

Olivia sighed. "He lost a bet to Fin a couple years ago and had to sing Fin's choice of song at the Karaoke bar down by the station. Fin chose _Man I Feel Like a Woman_. El did such a good job of it that he got phone numbers from like five different men and it's kind of been our little joke ever since."

"Why didn't I hear about that?" Alex laughed.

"God I would have paid good money to see that," Abbie said loudly.

"Munch got it on video," Olivia shared. "He really was pretty good."

"We gotta get our hands on that video," Abbie murmured, evil plans already beginning to take shape in her mind.

"Just leave me out of it," Olivia told her. "I don't need a pissed off partner. So, what movie are you putting in Carmichael?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Abbie looked back down at the open cabinet in the entertainment center. "Well, let's see. What do you want: comedy, or drama?"

"Comedy," Alex, Olivia, and Serena – who had just entered the living room after finishing the dishes – all answered.

"Alright," Abbie chuckled as she selected a movie and slid the disc into the player before grabbing the remote and moving over to where Serena was sitting.

"What did you choose?" Serena asked as Abbie settled into the loveseat beside her.

"You'll see." Abbie grinned.

The four women watched the screen, and Alex couldn't help but groan when the previews started playing.

"Ohmygod Abbie, you didn't!" She buried her face in Olivia's short spiky hair.

"What is it?" Olivia asked.

"DEBS," Alex groaned.

Olivia sat up so she could look, really look, and the blushing blonde behind her. "I did not expect this movie to be in your library," she said with a laugh.

"It was research," Alex argued weakly.

This got Olivia, Abbie, and Serena all laughing. "How is DEBS research for anything you might come across in the DAs office?" Olivia grinned.

Abbie held her hands up, effectively calling court into session. "Allow me," she grinned. "See, much in the same way Elliot was forced to embarrass himself by singing – our dear Alex here lost a bet of her own last year."

"Who did you lose a bet to?" Olivia looked up at Alex who looked like she was torn between wanting to laugh with everybody else and running off to hide under the blankets and many pillows on her bed.

"That would be me." Serena grinned and high-fived Abbie.

"Do I want to know what the bet was?" Olivia asked.

"Let's just say it involved lots of tequila, chocolate syrup, balloon animals, and a Catwoman suit," Abbie said vaguely, waving her hand dismissively, as if that explained everything.

Olivia kept her eyes on Alex, surprised to see that it was actually possible for somebody to blush all the way to the roots of their hair. "You know what," Olivia thought aloud, "I really think that I don't want to know."

"Thank god," Alex mumbled.

"Anywho," Serena laughed. "Because she lost I got to choose her costume for the annual DAs Halloween Costume Party."

"You hate dressing up." Olivia looked at Alex who just nodded and waved at Serena to hurry it up and get her humiliation over with already.

"I made her dress up like Amy Bradshaw," Serena laughed.

Olivia's jaw dropped at the mental picture that popped into her head of Alex wearing the short plaid skirt. "Wow," she breathed appreciatively.

"She was perfect!" Abbie declared proudly. "It was awesome! We won first prize in the costume contest!"

"We?" Olivia asked.

"I was Lucy Diamond." Abbie grinned.

"Yeah," Serena agreed. "But you guys didn't win because of you rocking the cargos or Alex in the short little skirt."

"There was more?" Olivia asked.

"Mmmhmm," Abbie drawled. "We got Donnelly to dress up as Ms. Petrie."

"You didn't." Olivia stared.

"They did," Alex confirmed. "And, she has the picture in her office to prove it."

"She does?" Abbie looked over at Alex, obviously surprised at that tidbit of information. "Who took the picture? I really need to talk to her about getting a copy of that."

+++/+++\+++

"Now you two be good." Abbie grinned at Alex from the doorway to the blonde's guestroom as she watched Olivia turn the corner into Alex's master. "Don't do anything-" she waved a finger for emphasis, "-anything, that I would do. You know, if I were alone with Serena at either her place or mine and not sequestered away in your guestroom."

Alex laughed. "I hardly see the point of that statement as you've already admitted to defiling my rug."

"Yeah, well, you know how it is – she just can't keep her hands off of me," Abbie chuffed.

"You are so full of it Carmichael," Alex told her friend affectionately.

"Don't worry Alex. Your rug is still the pristine virginal piece of floor covering it was this morning," Abbie assured the blonde. "I'll leave the defiling of it to you two." She waggled her brows and waved at the air between Alex and her bedroom where Olivia was.

"You're such a sweetheart," Alex drawled as she shook her head in amusement.

Abbie just smiled and placed a concerned hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Seriously though – you two don't have to share a bed if you're not comfortable with it. I can always sleep on the couch, and Serena was serious when she said she could go home for the night," she offered, dropping her act and showing her genuine concern for her friend. "Whatever you guys need and we'll do it, okay?"

Alex smiled softly and pulled her friend into a hug. "Thank you, but we'll be fine. I think the cuddling is helping both of us deal with what happened."

"Call me if you need me," Abbie said as she gave the blonde a soft squeeze before letting go. "I'll keep our door open so I can hear you."

Alex wanted to dismiss the brunette's offer as not needed, but she knew that Abbie – in spite of her relentless teasing – was worried, so she just nodded. "Alright. If I need something you'll be the second person I call."

"Good enough," Abbie agreed. "Good enough."

+++/+++\+++

"Alex," Olivia said softly as she watched the blonde finished getting changed for bed.

"Hmm?" Alex mumbled as she pulled her top over her head and turned to face the grinning brunette in her bed. "You need something Liv?"

"Just you," Olivia said with a sweet smile as she held her arms out.

"Well, that can certainly be arranged," Alex replied as she went to turn off the light.

Olivia sighed as she felt the bed shift under the blonde's weight and moaned softly as she felt Alex's hand slide over her stomach as she settled in atop her.

"So," Olivia murmured, stroking her fingers through the blonde's hair.

"What's on your mind Detective?" Alex asked in a hushed whisper.

"Do you still have that skirt?

Alex smiled and lifted herself up to kiss the inquisitive brunette softly. "Yes."

"Sweet Jesus," Olivia breathed, her breath dancing across Alex's lips that were still mere millimeters from her own.

"Goodnight Liv," Alex murmured, leaning in and capturing Olivia's lips again with her own. "Sweet dreams," she breathed as she pulled away, nuzzling the brunette's cheek softly.

"Oh, I most definitely think they will be," Olivia said and felt Alex smile against her neck as the blonde placed a quick kiss on her pulse point. "I just hope they aren't _too_ sweet."

+++/+++\+++

Olivia awoke the next morning to find herself alone in bed with the happy sound of laughter and the distinct smell of percolating coffee wafting down the hall toward her. The waking up alone she was used to, the laughter and the coffee, on the other hand, were definitely alien concepts to her. Although, she really could get used to having coffee ready the minute she woke up.

A quick glance at the clock showed that she had slept past nine, and a sleepy hand through her hair reminded her that today was the day the doctor had said she could start showering again. She sat up, wincing at the pain shooting down her chest, and spied a glass of water and her pain pills on her bedside table.

"Alex." She smiled at the thoughtfulness of the blonde as she popped the pills into her mouth and washed them down with the full glass of water.

She sat on the edge of the bed for a few minutes, trying to gauge her body's health to determine whether or not she would be able to actually get herself into the shower and washed without help. A few tentative twists and a failed attempt to work her shirt off decided for her that she needed help. And, as the only person she would be willing to accept help from was Alex, she needed to go find her.

She padded down the hall to find Alex, Serena and Abbie all still in their pajamas and fighting over the newspaper. She could only stare as she watched the three supremely educated, well-behaved women (okay, so maybe only two of them were usually well behaved) acting like children.

"It's my paper," Alex was laughing. "My house. Therefore, my damned crossword puzzle."

"I just want the Sudoku," Serena said as Abbie fell into her lap after losing the tug-of-war with Alex.

"I got the paper first!" Abbie argued as she jumped up and snatched the folded paper out of Alex's hand. "Yes!" She held her captured prize up victoriously.

"Can I just have the Sudoku?" Serena whined.

Finally deciding that somebody needed to act the grown-up and put an end to the fighting before somebody got hurt, she yelled, "I thought I was avoiding the fighting by not staying at Elliot's house!"

Three sets of eyes looked up at the Detective with three matching sheepish grins. Alex was the first to recover. "Hey baby, nice sleep?"

Olivia arched a brow questioningly. "Hey baby? I see somebody is feeling better this morning."

"Maybe." Alex grinned and snatched the paper back from Abbie.

"Okay, I know I'm going to regret this, but what's going on?" Olivia chuckled.

"Nothing," Alex, Serena and Abbie answered together.

"Right," Olivia grinned. "And next thing I know you're all going to tell me that you don't know who started it."

"Abbie started it," Alex reported with a laugh.

"Did not," Abbie argued.

Alex looked poised to respond when Olivia cut the both of them off. "Alex, give Serena the Sudoku puzzle and then hand the crossword over to Abbie."

"But Liv," Alex whined. "I love my crossword puzzle."

"Fine," Olivia grinned as she made to head back to the bedroom. "I was going to ask you to help me shower since the doctor said as long I don't soak the sutures I could start taking them again today, but if you'd rather do a puzzle than help me…" she let her voice trail off, knowing that she'd already made her point.

"I guess one week without the puzzle won't kill me," Alex said in an offhand manner as she tossed the paper back onto the table.

"I thought so." Olivia nodded. "If Elliot calls could you just get an idea of when he's planning on swinging by?" she asked Serena and Abbie.

"No problem." The shorter blonde nodded. "We'll take care of it."

"Thank you," Olivia said, smiling as she felt Alex twine their fingers together.

...

"Hey," Alex said as she closed the bathroom door behind them.

"Hey yourself Counselor," Olivia chuckled. "Are you three always so… youthfully energetic in the morning?"

"Is that a nice way of calling our behavior childish?" Alex asked playfully as she took a couple steps toward the center of the bathroom where Olivia who was standing.

"Perhaps," Olivia hedged.

"Then I plead the fifth," Alex answered with a smirk. "So, how do you want to do this?"

"Wow, talk about déjà vu," Olivia laughed.

"At least today I'm expecting you to strip," Alex retorted. "Seriously Liv, what do you need me to do?"

"Honestly?" Olivia blushed. "I can't get my shirt off or on by myself, the pants and underwear I could probably manage to get off but getting clean stuff back on by myself isn't feasible because I can't lean over without it hurting for some reason, and I really don't see how I'm going to be able to wash my hair one-handed and I really need to wash my hair."

"So, basically everything then?" Alex clarified with a smile.

"God I hate being helpless," Olivia groaned, thankful that she at least had shaved her legs when she showered before meeting Alex Thursday night.

"Hey," Alex murmured, kissing her softly. "It's fine."

"Thank you," Olivia whispered as she watched Alex reach into the shower to turn the water on.

"How hot do you like it?" Alex asked as she fiddled with the knobs.

"The hotter the better," Olivia said as she began working her sweats and underwear down past her hips so that gravity could take over and force them to the floor.

"Good. Me too." Alex smiled as she turned back around to find Olivia trying to step out of her clothes. "Let me," she murmured, kneeling down in front of the blushing brunette and helping her free her feet from the tangle of clothes.

"Good thing you got the full show yesterday, huh?" Olivia tried to make a joke as she felt Alex's fingers carefully wrap themselves around her ankle to steady her as she pulled the pants free.

Alex stood and kissed the embarrassed brunette tenderly. "Relax Liv, it's just me," she murmured reassuringly as she began to help Olivia out of her shirt. "Sorry," she gasped as she watched Olivia wince. "Sorry."

"S'okay," Olivia grimaced. "I knew that would hurt."

"You okay?" Alex asked, cupping the brunette's jaw and tenderly running the pad of her thumb over her cheek as she stared into her eyes.

"Yeah." Olivia nodded, blinking back the tears that had sprung up at the first stab of pain. "I'm fine."

Alex studied her carefully for a moment to make sure that the brunette was telling her the truth before she whispered, "Good."

Olivia stared as she watched the blonde begin shedding her own clothes. "Oh, ahhh, Alex – what are you doing?"

Alex looked up and smiled. "What? You want me to climb into the shower with my clothes on to help you?"

"Um, I guess not," Olivia said as she watched Alex shimmy out of her yoga pants and kick them off to the side.

"You know," Alex thought aloud as she reached for the hem of her shirt and began to lift it off over her head. "I'd always imagined our getting naked together for the first time a little differently than this."

"My god, you're perfect," Olivia murmured as she watched Alex toss her shirt carelessly in the direction of her discarded pants.

"You're not so bad yourself," Alex chuckled. "Here-" she opened the door to the shower and held out her hand. "I promise I'll behave."

"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not," Olivia muttered as she took the blonde's proffered hand and stepped carefully into the shower, hyperaware of the fact that any movement on her part to stabilize herself would lead to a disproportionate amount of pain. "Thank you." She smiled as she watched Alex pull the door closed behind herself.

"My pleasure." Alex smiled. "Now, turn around and get your hair wet. We'll start at the top and work our way down."


	8. Chapter 8

**_…_**

**_Part 8_**

"Ooooooh," Olivia moaned as Alex's talented fingers massaged expensive boutique shampoo into her scalp.

Alex, who was watching Olivia's face relax in pleasure from a simple scalp massage, had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from moaning softly herself. She shifted uncomfortably, squeezing her legs together as she fought her rising arousal. She wasn't supposed to be revving herself up; she was supposed to be helping Olivia. But damned if the brunette getting her hair washed wasn't the single fucking sexiest thing she had ever seen.

"God Liv," Alex breathed when she finished working the soap into the brunette's hair. "You make getting your hair washed look like…" her voice trailed off as she watched Olivia swallow thickly as her eyes opened, showing the barest ring of brown.

"What?" Olivia husked, desperately trying to steady her pulse and calm her breathing. She knew Alex wanted to wait, knew that in her condition she wouldn't be able to make love to the blonde as completely as she would like. She also knew that if Alex didn't touch her soon she was going to combust.

"Sex," Alex breathed, trailing a soapy finger down the column of the brunette's throat. "You make it look like sex."

Olivia's breath hitched in her throat as she stared into Alex's desire blown eyes. "Alex," she groaned.

Alex sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and cocked her head as she appraised the woman before her. "I want to touch you," she confessed softly, running her finger back up Olivia's throat to cradle the brunette's face gently in her hand.

Olivia's eyes fluttered closed as she felt the pad of Alex's thumb begin to softly caress her cheek and she was helpless to stop the soft moan of approval that spilled from her lips. "God Alex, please."

She let Alex slowly guide her head back under the spray, felt the familiar tug low in her belly as the blonde closed the distance separating them as she began to work the soap from her hair.

Alex's breathing grew fast and shallow as she gently rinsed the soap from Olivia's hair, her pulse racing in her veins as she brushed the last tendril of shampoo down the brunette's back.

"Liv," Alex moaned, her fingers trailing down the back of Olivia's neck and over her shoulder – tenderly tracing the line of the older woman's collarbone before moving downward, over the flat of her chest before gliding over the swell of her breast.

Olivia reached out with her good arm to grab hold of Alex's hip, desperate to find any purchase to steady herself against as her body came alive under the blonde's loving, tender, almost hesitant touch.

"So beautiful," Alex murmured as she ran the back of her hand around the perimeter of the mound, around and around, slowly, reverently around; entranced by the tightening of the nub at the peak as she stroked closer and closer to that tempting, oh so goddamn tempting tip.

"Alex, please," Olivia groaned, taking her hand from the blonde's hip to cover the hand on her breast.

Blue eyes flashed to capture molten brown. "Liv," Alex husked, her voice rough with desire.

"Touch me," Olivia pleaded softly, gently, yet forcefully guiding the younger woman's hand so that it was fully over her breast. "God Alex," she moaned appreciatively as the blonde's hand began to massage her.

Alex's quiet moan was lost in the sound of the spray as she felt Olivia's nipple press into her palm as she lovingly hefted the weight of the captured breast with her hand before releasing it to gently rub the pad of her thumb over the already sensitized tip.

"I've dreamed of this for so long," she whispered as she stroked and teased the pebbled nub. "So long," she breathed as she leaned down and captured it between her lips, moaning softly as she felt Olivia's fingers thread through her hair and pull her in closer, tighter.

Olivia groaned loudly when she felt that wonderfully warm wet heat of Alex's mouth leave her.

"I know baby," Alex murmured as she returned to her full height before the brunette. "I know." She leaned in and kissed Olivia hungrily as she reached behind her to turn off the water. "Bed," she husked. "I'm taking you to bed."

Mouths battled for dominance as the two stumbled inelegantly out of the shower, injuries and pain forgotten in the heat of their building passion. They shuffled backwards out of the bathroom, bodies pressed tightly together, wet silken skin sliding against wet silken skin, hands busy grasping, massaging, stroking, kneading every inch of flesh available to them.

When the edge of the bed cut into the side of their legs Alex turned so she could help Olivia down onto the bed, still mindful of the fact that the brunette was indeed still injured, mindful of the fact that despite her baser tendencies at the moment she needed to be careful with the wounded woman.

Lips never broke contact with flushed, heated, wanting skin as Alex gently guided Olivia back onto the middle of the bed, carefully helping the olive skinned beauty down onto the cool sheets; moving together, never placing her full weight on the injured woman's frame as she slowly lowered herself onto the bed beside her.

"I love you Liv," Alex murmured, her lips tracing the delicate line of the brunette's jaw. "So much," she breathed as she traced her tongue over Olivia's racing pulse point, flattening her tongue over the base to savor the strong and steady beat of her pulse.

Olivia groaned loudly as she felt Alex's arousal trace a distinct line down her thigh, warm, wet, and oh so fucking slick. "Alex, please," she whimpered and rolled her hips up toward the blonde, silently begging for more.

"Let me make love to you?" Alex breathed against the hollow of the brunette's throat.

It was that soft plea, that quiet question that drove all coherent thought from Olivia's mind. More than the hungry kisses or the electricity of the blonde's touch, that simple whispered sentence that had years worth of dreams and desire laced between and through each word was her complete undoing.

"Please," Olivia gasped.

Alex smiled as she began moving slowly, oh so slowly down the brunette's lithe and powerful body.

Olivia let her head drop back to the mattress as she saw Alex stop to hover above her breasts, felt her eyes roll back in her head as the tip of the blonde's tongue traced delicate circles around her nipple before it was captured between Alex's soft rosy lips and sucked against hungrily.

"Yes!" Olivia gasped approvingly.

Alex simply moaned appreciatively at Olivia's vocalization before continuing her slow trek down the brunette's body, reveling in the silken friction of skin sliding against skin and the way the touch just ratcheted up her desire and her need for the woman below her. She slid down Olivia's body, rubbing against her, slowly stroking, licking, nipping, and sucking at each inch of olive skin she passed. She paused momentarily to nip playfully on a protruding pelvic bone before kissing her way over soft curls and finally, finally, finally arriving at the place they both wanted her to be.

She closed her eyes and breathed in deep the intoxicating musky aroma of Olivia's arousal, leaned in closer to let her breath play upon the swollen sensitive flesh; enjoying, savoring the wordless pleas falling from the brunette's lips as she hovered above her center. Waiting, teasing, letting the anticipation of that first glorious touch build higher and higher until it was just too goddamn much to ignore any longer.

"God, Liv," Alex moaned as she finally gave in and leaned in closer to slowly lave her tongue through Olivia's arousal, starting at the base of the brunette's slit and slowly, slowly, so slowly it was almost painful, working her way up to the very apex and flicking the tip of her tongue lightly against the already swollen and straining bundle of nerves she found there.

"Alex!" Olivia gasped at that first touch of the blonde's tongue against her clit.

Alex smiled and dropped her tongue back to the bottom of Olivia's sex to retrace her path through the brunette's folds, her touch against Olivia's center changing from soft to firm and back again as she ran her tongue over, around and through the brunette's arousal.

"Fuck," Olivia gasped at the second flick of Alex's talented, oh so talented, tongue against her clit as she tangled her hand in Alex's hair, preparing to hold on for dear life as the blonde's talented tongue began slowly teasing her to insanity. She moaned loudly at the first push of Alex's tongue inside her, whimpered pathetically when she felt it slide out and begin flicking feather light again against her clit.

Alex hummed happily to herself as she covered Olivia's sex with her mouth and sucked softly against the sensitive bundle of nerves, enjoying the feeling of Olivia's body tensing under her touch, reveling in the heady feeling of knowing that she was responsible for causing the wordless pleas, gasps, grunts, moans and whimpers to fall from Olivia's mouth as she made love to her with her lips, teeth, and tongue.

"God, Alex," Olivia gasped, her back arching up off the mattress as the blonde nipped gently at her clit. "Fuck. God. So close," she practically sobbed, letting go of Alex's hair to tangle her hand into the sheets as the blonde increased the force and tempo of her ministrations.

Alex could taste Olivia's increasing arousal, could tell from the frantic thrusts of the brunette's hips against her mouth that Olivia was indeed close – so very, very close. Part of her wanted to selfishly extend the moment but the frantic mewls and moans that were growing in volume with each lick, flick, and suck she delivered to her lover convinced her to take pity on the goddess spread before her and release her.

She slipped one hand up under her chin and slid two fingers as deep as she could, laying a broad flat lick against the brunette's swollen clit and curled her fingers as she pulled them out slowly, so slowly, before pushing back in as far as she could and repeating that same slow, teasing withdrawal.

Alex's name was falling from Olivia's lips as a reverent chant as she felt her orgasm building, building, god building, stronger and stronger with each flick, suck and thrust against her. A familiar promising heat began to grow, began to spread through her until with one last flick of Alex's supremely talented tongue she was thrown, literally thrown over the edge she had been dancing along and into release.

Alex stilled her ministrations at the first crush of Olivia's orgasm, letting the first violent spasm ebb before she resumed slowly stroking, licking, sucking, doing her best to extend the brunette's pleasure for as long as she could. When Olivia's muscles stilled Alex carefully, so carefully, pulled her fingers out before pressing one last adoring kiss to those sensitive lower lips, smiling at the twitch and groan of pleasure the touch elicited before she began kissing her way back up Olivia's body.

"God, Alex," Olivia groaned as Alex slowly, too goddamn slowly, worked her way back up to her lips. When the blonde had finally moved high enough she gently guided her to the side so she was able to slip a leg between her lover's.

Alex moaned loudly as she felt Olivia's powerful thigh push against her aching core. "Jesus, Liv," she moaned as her body automatically thrust down into the contact. Her head dropped so that her forehead was resting against Olivia's, her blonde hair falling around them like a curtain as dusky blue eyes gazed adoringly into molten chocolate brown.

The world shrunk to the space immediately surrounding them, neither aware of anything beyond her own body and that of her lover. Breaths mingled in desperate pants and Olivia used her good hand to pull against Alex's hip, encouraging the blonde's movement against her thigh as she flexed the strong muscle against the wet throbbing heat that was sliding across it.

Strong callused fingers slid lovingly over glowing alabaster skin to tangle themselves in blonde silk. "I love you," Olivia murmured into Alex's lips before pulling the blonde's lips down to her level so she could claim them with her own.

Alex rocked against her lover's leg as they kissed, her tempo matching their thrusting tongues as she raced closer and closer to the edge. "Fuck," she gasped as she pulled back to rest her forehead against Olivia's, hating to break that intimate caress but desperately needing to breathe as her orgasm grew, god grew, so strong inside her.

Olivia stared transfixed at Alex's face as the blonde retreated inside herself, focusing on the pleasure, the sensations building inside her. "That's it baby," she encouraged as Alex's eyes scrunched tighter. "That's it baby, let go. My god you're so beautiful, let go baby," she encouraged as the blonde's lips fell open and her breath came in short, almost desperate gasps as the wave building inside her crested, stalled, hovered, before finally, finally breaking and flowing through her.

"Liv," Alex moaned loudly as her orgasm hit her hard, fast, and violent - her hips stalling at that first shockwave before they began rocking again almost of their own volition as her body fought to extend its own release. "Liv. Baby. Fuck. Liv. God. Liv, Liv, Liv," she gasped with each beautiful tense and release of her muscles as her body rode the wave of pleasure that was rolling through her.

When the last spasm faded leaving Alex feeling boneless and weak, Olivia carefully, tenderly, adoringly guided the blonde down beside her, her uninjured arm wrapping protectively around the gasping shaking woman.

"Wow," the usually eloquent blonde breathed, her heartbeat still racing but her breathing slowing as she came down from her high. "Wow."

"Mmm." Olivia smiled. "Definitely wow."

Alex pushed herself up onto her elbow so she could look into Olivia's eyes as she murmured, "I love you Liv."

Olivia smiled and lifted her head to kiss the blonde above her tenderly. "I love you too Alex," she swore softly and was rewarded with a megawatt grin and the crush of Alex's lips against her own.

"How are you feeling?" Alex murmured when the need for air finally trumped her need for Olivia.

"Like I want to try that again," Olivia smirked and slid her hand down between the blonde's legs to play in her lingering arousal.

"Fuck," Alex groaned as she felt Olivia's fingers dip into her center before sliding up to tease her still swollen clit.

"Hmm?" Olivia murmured as she rolled the blonde's clit between her fingers.

"Need you," Alex whimpered as she reclaimed the brunette's lips with her own and shifted her body to give her lover better access. "Need to feel you inside me," she extrapolated breathily.

"Hmm?" Olivia smiled as she continued to play in her lover's wetness.

Blue eyes flashed open to capture brown. "Now," Alex growled.


	9. Chapter 9

**_…_**

**_Part 9_**

"Why is my living room filled with balloons?" Alex asked, surprise causing her to stop in the middle of the hallway and, by default, causing Olivia to run into the back of her.

"Oomph," Olivia grunted as she hit the blonde, automatically reaching out with her good arm to steady the woman in front of her. "What the hell, why did you stop?"

"Balloons," Alex answered, waving at the red and black balloons that covered her living room ceiling.

Olivia looked over Alex's shoulder at the scene before them and had to admit that the sudden appearance of balloons was somewhat odd. And it wasn't just one or two balloons but a room full. The living room ceiling was literally covered in wall-to-wall balloons.

"Why are there…" Olivia started, her voice trailing off as she spied a pink rectangular box on the dining room table. "Oooh-" she pushed past the stunned blonde to hurry across the room "-donuts!"

"I could make such the cop joke here," Alex muttered to herself, shaking her head as she followed the giddy brunette over to the table.

"Oooh, Bosson cweam," Olivia moaned around a mouthful of pastry before she swallowed and announced, "My favorite!"

Both women jumped when Abbie bounded out of the kitchen with a giant grin on her face as she yelled, "Hallelujah!", and threw her hands up in the air.

Alex choked back a scream of surprise at the sudden emergence of the brunette and hid behind Olivia, using the detective as a shield to protect her from Carmichael. Olivia laughed at the blonde's behavior before she turned her attention to Abbie. "Do I want to know?" she asked, arching a brow questioningly.

"Hey girls." Elliot grinned as he sauntered out of the kitchen with a steaming mug of coffee in his hand. "How was church?"

"Church?" Alex and Olivia parroted, looking at each other in confusion as they pulled out a couple chairs and sat down at the table.

"Yeah." Elliot nodded as he selected a jelly donut out of the box before sitting down as well. "Abbie said you two found religion this morning. I figured it was because of your close calls the other night that you might have decided to go and have a chat with the big guy to say thanks," he explained before taking a giant bite out of his donut, causing a glop of red jelly to squirt out the side and onto his shirt. "Dammit, Kathy's gonna kill me for getting jelly on my new shirt."

"Church?" Alex repeated, this time leveling her trademark _Ice Princess_ stare that caused perps to piss themselves and defense attorneys to quake in their loafers onto the still grinning Abbie Carmichael.

Abbie, completely unaffected by the blonde's angry glare, just shrugged and replied, in her best Southern Preacher voice, "And on the seventh day the Lord dipped his finger into the fountain of life and he declared, yes he declared, that those who returned to his flock shall be rewarded! Repeatedly! And, by the sounds you two were making-" she waggled her brows "-exhaustively. I'm impressed you can walk!"

Elliot choked on his donut. "What church doctrine is that from?" he asked, reaching for the stack of napkins to clean up his mess.

"Genesis … or, maybe Revelations." Abbie shrugged and took a bite out of her chocolate frosted donut. "I don't really go to church to listen to what they have to say, I just like to cover my bases in case of any unforeseen eventualities."

"What?" Elliot struggled to understand what Carmichael was rambling on about.

Alex could only stare in disbelief at Abbie. "Do I want to know what the _'fountain of life'_ is?"

"Please Cabot," Abbie drawled with a grin. "From the sounds Liv was making earlier I think you know **_exactly_** where to find the fountain of life."

Olivia blushed as her partner turned to stare at her. "Why balloons?" she asked, partly in an attempt to figure out what was going on and mostly to try anything to get the focus of the conversation away from the sounds Alex had coaxed from her earlier.

"You always gotta have balloons when you celebrate," Abbie explained before taking a sip of her coffee. "I wanted streamers but the ceilings in this place are too damn high for me to hang them properly so I just got extra balloons instead."

"Streamers?" Alex frowned.

"Please, people! We needed to get something to commemorate this momentous occasion," Abbie practically yelled, she was beginning to get really frustrated at Alex and Olivia's lack of understanding.

"Red and black balloons?" Alex stared.

"Well, it was the sexiest color combination I could come up with seeing as they didn't have any balloons that said _Thank God you finally fucked_," Abbie retorted.

Elliot choked on his donut again. "I thought you said they found religion?"

"They did," Abbie said, waggling her brows suggestively. "Or, at least it sure as hell sounded like it from the number of '_Dear God_s' and '_Sweet Jesus'_es coming out of that bedroom earlier."

"Oh god," Alex groaned.

"See!" Abbie announced triumphantly. "Religion!"

"So these balloons are sex balloons?" Elliot asked. "And you had me bring donuts? Sex donuts?"

"It was too early for cake," Abbie told him, the tone of her voice making it sound like he was an idiot for even having to ask.

"Do I want to know what the mouth wateringly delicious cream that oozes out of it is supposed to represent?" Elliot asked. "Or the hole in the middle…" his voice trailed off as he actually thought about what he was saying. "No, never mind. I don't want to know."

Abbie was about to respond by she was interrupted by the doorbell.

"I'll get it," Serena announced as she walked past the group. "Hey girls," she grinned at Alex and Olivia. "Feeling … relaxed?"

"Oh god," Alex groaned again.

"See!" Abbie laughed. "Lots and lots of religion was discovered here this morning!"

"You know that's like, blasphemy – right?" Elliot frowned.

"Please, mister Catholic." Abbie punched him in the arm. "We're lesbians. According to the Church we're all going to hell anyways, so we might as well enjoy ourselves now!"

"I so did not see any of this coming when I called earlier," Elliot muttered he rubbed his shoulder where Abbie had socked him.

"Darlings!" Maggie's voice called out happily as she entered the living room.

They all turned to watch the elder Cabot drop her purse into an empty armchair as she looked around the room appreciatively. "Interesting color scheme. Red and black, very dark and brooding. Or, maybe… erotic? Celebratory sex balloons?"

"Thank you!" Abbie shouted as she jumped up and set her coffee cup down on the table before running over to envelop Maggie in a backbreaking hug. "Finally! Somebody who gets it!"

"No streamers?" Maggie turned to Abbie questioningly once the younger woman had released her.

"Don't start with me Maggie," Abbie warned. "It was done in a hurry and Alex doesn't have a step ladder so I couldn't reach the ceiling. I did get Elliot to bring donuts though!"

"That was a good call." Maggie patted Abbie's shoulder approvingly. "Nice symbolism with the hole in the middle of the pastry, and it really is still a little too early in the day for cake."

Alex looked over at Olivia who was staring at Maggie and Abbie with a look on her face that was a cross between shock, utter horror, and amusement.

"What?" Alex leaned over and whispered against the brunette's ear.

"Those two are just…" Olivia let her voice trail off as she realized that there truly were no words to describe them.

"I am so glad you showed up," Abbie sighed as she steered Maggie toward the box of donuts on the dining room table. "They just don't understand my brilliance."

"Hey!" Serena pouted. "I was the one who ran down to the store with you and helped carry all those balloons back up here – there were so many that I swear I almost flew away like that old guy in the Pixar cartoon!"

"You were awesome Ser." Abbie kissed the pouting blonde on the forehead. "Thank you for your help."

"Streamers would have been a nice touch though," Maggie thought aloud as she scanned the contents of the bakery box. "Oooh, Boston cream – my favorite!" she announced happily as she grabbed the donut and sat down in an empty chair.

"You know what we need to make this a real party?" Abbie asked as she crossed the room toward the entertainment center.

"You know," Maggie wondered aloud as she leaned back in her chair and licked some errant filling off of her fingers. "The creamy goodness in the middle of this could also be symbolic of …"

"That's enough!" Alex yelled, interrupting her aunt with a look of abject horror on her face. "Enough! We get it! Okay? Everybody gets it. Abbie, what was that you were saying about this party needing something?"

"We need music." Abbie laughed at Alex's obvious discomfort. "Every good party needs music."

"Excellent call, my dear," Maggie agreed.

"You are absolutely right," Serena said as she set a cup of coffee down in front of Maggie.

"Of course," Alex mumbled. "Music. With the balloons and the donuts. Why on earthy didn't I think of any of this?"

"Hey Elliot!" Abbie laughed as she fiddled with Alex's iPod.

"What?" Elliot asked.

"Check it out man, it's your song!" Abbie started bopping her head to the opening strands of _Man I Feel Like a Woman_. "C'mon tough guy – sing it for us!"

"What is she talking about?" Maggie looked over at Elliot, an amused smile lighting her face as she took in the burly Detective's embarrassment.

Elliot leveled his death stare on Olivia. "You. Told. Her."

"She beat it out of me!" Olivia held her hands up.

"Bullshit Benson," Serena laughed. "You gave it up easier than Abbie at a Star Trek convention."

"What?" Olivia, Elliot, Alex, and Maggie all turned to look at Serena.

"Not important!" Abbie yelled and quickly changed the song. "See, Shania's all gone now." She smiled sweetly as she walked up behind her girlfriend. "Just for that I'm not wearing the costume for you again," she murmured into the laughing blonde's ear.

Maggie, who was sitting close enough to overhear the embarrassed brunette's promise, chuckled softly. "Live long and prosper, Counselors. So, what's the plan for today?" she asked over the rim of her coffee cup.

"Just hanging out. We still need to take it easy," Alex replied and, noticing the way Abbie's eyes lit up with a new idea, continued, "Shut up Abbie."

Abbie slouched back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest as she pouted. "You're no fun."

"You're just lucky I actually like Serena because otherwise I'd be all over your ass," Alex retorted.

"How do you know she isn't into threesomes?" Abbie smirked.

"Hey!" Serena yelled. "Well… wait – who are you thinking of for a third?"

"Oh god," Elliot moaned.

"See!" Abbie pointed at him triumphantly. "Lots of religion around this apartment this morning! It's getting so bad that we're going to have to get this place sanctified and start selling tickets. I bet if we advertised on Craigslist we could make a fortune!"

"I need another cup of coffee," Alex announced and jumped up from the table. "Anybody else?"

"Me." Abbie and Serena each held out their empty cups.

"I'm good," Maggie said with a smile. "Thank you dear."

"I'd love a refill too." Olivia handed her cup to Alex. "Thanks baby."

Alex smiled and leaned in to kiss Olivia softly. "For you, anything."

"I could use one too," Elliot announced as he grabbed Serena and Abbie's mugs. "I'll come with you and help."

"Okay, thanks Elliot." Alex smiled and made her way into the kitchen with Olivia's partner right on her six.

They placed the empty cups onto the counter beside the machine and Alex went about pouring the appropriate amount of cream into Serena and Maggie's cups.

"How are you feeling?" Elliot asked conversationally as he watched Alex pull the carafe out of the coffee maker and refill the empty cups.

"Um, okay, I guess. What's up?"

"Well, seeing as this is something of a 'celebration'-" he emphasized the word with the little air finger quotes "-for you and Liv, I need to give you the whole over-protective-big-brother speech."

"I see." Alex nodded. "Then this would be the part where I tell you that I love her and would do nothing to hurt her."

"Good." Elliot smiled. "But if you do, you know I'm gonna have to make sure you bleed… right?"

"If I do anything to hurt her I'll deserve it," Alex told him honestly.

"Well-" he hitched his pants up a bit and smiled "-glad we got that out of the way then," he said. "Feel better soon Counselor, we need you back ASAP."

"I shall do my best Detective," Alex replied.

"Good." He nodded and led them back out of the kitchen toward the table where the other four women were still sitting around and pretending as if they hadn't been eavesdropping on the conversation that had just taken place.

"You okay?" Olivia leaned in and whispered to Alex once the blonde had reclaimed her seat.

Alex smiled and kissed the brunette tenderly. "Yup. No problems."

Elliot smiled at the obvious love between the two women. "Well," he chuffed. "I think it's time I head on home and help Kathy with the kids," he announced as he looked at his watch. "Yup, definitely time for me to head home."

"Don't let Abbie's behavior chase you out Stabler." Olivia smiled as she motioned him closer. Once he was at eye level with her she whispered, "Really. Please don't leave us alone with her. I'll buy you lunch for a month once I'm allowed to come back if you don't leave us with her."

"Sorry partner." Elliot patted her arm reassuringly. "I gotta go. Neighbor kid is having a birthday party this afternoon. Family duty and all that stuff."

"You suck." Olivia pouted and Elliot just grinned at her in response. "Fine, traitor," she groaned. "C'mon, I'll walk you out."

"Thanks partner," Elliot replied. "Enjoy the rest of your day ladies," he smiled at the group.

"Bye Elliot." Serena smiled. "Thanks for bringing the donuts."

Elliot shook his head. "You know, I really used to like donuts. It's a real shame that I'll never be able to look at them the same way again."

"What way is that?" Abbie asked, sticking her tongue through the center of a donut and waggling it suggestively.

"Wow, how did you make your tongue…" Elliot just shook his head. "You know what? Never mind." He waved the brunette off and turned to leave, Olivia following tight on his heels.

"Look, Liv," he said as he stopped with a hand on the front door and turned to face his partner. "I'm sorry about all this – I honestly didn't know what she was planning. I had just called to see if it was okay if I came by for a bit and she said to bring donuts. I didn't know," he repeated, trying to put as much distance between himself and Abbie's little celebration as possible.

Olivia smiled and nodded. "I know El. Thanks for coming by to say hello, and for the donuts too. Tell the guys I'm doing okay, will ya?"

"You bet," Elliot grinned. "I'm happy for you Liv."

"Thank you. I'm going to be hearing about this for a while, aren't I?"

Elliot pursed his lips and nodded. "Pretty much. Sex balloons," he said with a shake of his head as he turned to leave. "I'd tell Kathy about all this, but she'd think I was making it up."

Olivia laughed and rolled her eyes. "Welcome to my life buddy."

Elliot looked over his partner's shoulder at Alex who was trying, unsuccessfully by the looks of it, to convince Abbie that the balloons had to go. "I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Alex – if you hurt her I'm going to have to make sure you bleed."

"If I do anything to hurt her I'll deserve it," Olivia told him.

Elliot smiled and nodded his approval. They really were meant for each other. "I'm happy for ya Liv. Get better quick, kay?"

"I'll do my best," Olivia promised.


	10. Chapter 10

**_…_**

**_Part 10_**

Maggie Cabot watched her niece's eyes follow Olivia's retreating form as the brunette showed her partner out so he could escape the craziness that had exploded inside Alex's apartment and return to his family. The overprotective loving aunt part of her wanted to deck Abbie Carmichael for coming up with the whole sex celebration idea because she knew how sensitive Alexandra really was when it came to the matters of her heart, but the part of her that was perpetually stuck in the land of sophomoric behavior was a little pissed that she'd never thought of sex balloons … and donuts. Because, damn – that was just brilliant.

Studying her niece carefully, she noted that Alex looked amazing, even with the bruising on her face that was now beginning to turn vile shades of yellow, puce, and green around the very edges of the contusion. The young blonde looked relaxed, there was a definite change to her demeanor – as if the weight of the world she'd been carrying upon her shoulders had finally been removed. Her lips were tweaked at the corners, almost as if she were – even at this moment – fighting to hold back a smile. She was happy. Everything about Alex practically screamed of how happy she was. And, for this, Maggie Cabot was glad. Alex was her favorite of all the Cabot children, and she knew how much it had pained the attorney to watch cousin after cousin pair off, marry, and start a family. She'd been the first one that Alex had 'come out' to and, all joking and teasing aside, she was the one Cabot elder (since the death of her brother, Alex's father) who supported the young woman the most.

"She is absolutely lovely, Alex dear." Maggie smiled at her niece once the blonde had torn her attention away from the hallway her lover had disappeared into.

Alex blushed and nodded. "She is. She's amazing."

"Your mother sends her love and says that she'll be back in New York in a fortnight or so," Maggie told Alex. "She wanted to catch the next flight out of London to get back here, but I talked her into finishing her trip."

"Thank you." Alex smiled her appreciation. She loved her mother, but the woman could be smothering when she was sick or injured.

"But I couldn't talk Liz into not coming by to say hello," Maggie continued updating her niece. "She'll be by later this morning."

"Oh," Alex, Serena, and Abbie looked up at the ceiling. Alex was suddenly **_very_** glad that Abbie had been unable to find balloons that said _Thank God You Finally Fucked_.

"Who's coming by later?" Olivia asked as she returned to the room and retook her seat beside Alex.

"Donnelly," Alex answered on a groan.

Olivia frowned. "Why?"

"She's my godmother," Alex replied.

"Now this, I didn't know." Olivia cocked her head at Alex appraisingly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"There was never a reason for me to tell you," Alex replied honestly. "She went to Wellesley with Maggie and Yale Law with my father. She's known me since I was born, old family friend, yada yada yada-" Alex waved her hand dismissively.

"So, if she's your godmother, why is she always on your ass?" Olivia frowned, now more confused than ever.

Maggie laughed. "That would be her way of showing her love and pushing Alexandra to the heights of her abilities. But her heart is in the right place, even if she has a weird way of showing it. How's Elliot?"

Olivia laughed. "He'll live. I think he was just a little overwhelmed with the whole-" she looked around the room "-celebration thing."

"Weren't we all." Alex stared at Abbie accusingly. "Sex donuts."

The lanky Texan held her hands up defensively. "Look, you knew I wasn't gonna not do something to give you a hard time about how you **_finally_** pulled your heads out of your asses and did something about this," she said, waving a hand between the two of them. "Hells bells, even the blind guy with the sign begging for change outside the courthouse could see it!"

"Was it really that obvious?" Olivia asked Abbie.

"Liz used to refer to our fights as our way of 'having sex without going through the hassle of getting naked'," Alex shared. "And then she'd make sure to remind me how much more satisfying it is when you do it **_without_** clothes on."

Maggie laughed. "Now, that does sound like the Liz I know and love."

Olivia smiled politely and leaned in to whisper in Alex's ear, "Sometimes you would get me so worked up that it was all I could do to keep from pushing you back onto your desk and taking you right then."

"Oh," Alex breathed, a fresh blush creeping up her neck as she turned to look into the brunette's eyes for confirmation that her words were the truth.

Olivia nodded and kissed the tip of Alex's nose.

"We'll have to try that sometime."

"Oh god," Olivia groaned.

+++/+++\+++

"Liz, darling!" Maggie smiled as she opened the front door to Alex's apartment to find her old college friend standing in the hall.

"Maggie. How's our girl doing? I wanted to come by yesterday but I was stuck in meetings all day about what we're going to do to contain the press when this thing goes to trial."

Maggie laughed softly. "Alex is doing ex-ceptionally well," she said, pursing her lips and arching her brows suggestively.

"Mmm," Liz hummed. "So I take it Detective Benson is recovering at the speed of light as well?"

"Let's just say they're happy Liz, so give my girl a break this morning – okay?"

Liz Donnelly looked absolutely scandalized. "Are you implying that I would give my goddaughter a hard time?"

"Carmichael threw them a 'Thank God You Finally Fucked' celebration this morning. I think they've about had it with the teasing for one day," Maggie told her friend with a laugh.

"God I miss having that girl strutting around the courthouse," Liz chuckled.

"She even got Stabler to bring celebratory donuts."

"That child is a goddamn genius." Liz nodded appreciatively as she made her way into the living room to find Alex and Olivia snuggled up on the couch and Abbie and Serena fighting over who was going to win at Mario Kart.

Liz let her bag drop to the floor behind the couch as she leaned over the back to press a soft kiss to Alex's forehead. "How you feeling sweetheart?"

"Hi Liz." Alex smiled. "I'm feeling better. The drugs help."

"You're on vacation for the next week, you know," Liz told the blonde.

"I had a feeling I'd be ordered to sit out for a bit," Alex grumbled.

"Nice balloons." Liz waved at the ceiling. "I hear our Ms. Carmichael has been quite the busy girl this morning."

"Not as busy as those two, unfortunately," Abbie replied without taking her eyes off the screen.

Liz rolled her eyes at Abbie and turned her gaze to the dark haired detective wrapped in her goddaughter's arms. "How are you feeling Detective?"

"Much better, thank you," Olivia replied formally as she tried to sit up and extricate herself from Alex's embrace. Something about laying on the couch with Alex's arms around her seemed just _wrong_ with Donnelly standing right there.

Alex just tightened her grip and refused to let Olivia go. "Shh, it's fine," she murmured in the brunette's ear.

"No need to be so formal Olivia," Liz replied with a grin. "Rumor has it that you've made our Alex quite a happy girl so you can relax – we're outside of the courthouse, I don't bite here."

Olivia laughed. "Yes ma'am," she said, rather thrown by the casual rapport between the attorneys. She'd never seen them interact outside of their 'ivory tower' before so this relaxed and easy-going teasing was definitely new to her.

"So, what's the word at work?" Alex asked Donnelly as she strode around the couch to perch herself on the arm of the chair Maggie was reclined in.

"The usual. Petrovsky is going ape shit that she didn't get your trial," Liz shared with a laugh. "That was actually fun to watch."

"Who got it?" Alex asked, surprised that she hadn't bothered to find the details out from Serena. Of course, she realized, she'd been more than a little focused on Olivia and all the wonderful things happening between them to worry too much over the unsavory circumstances that propelled them into their current state of happiness.

"Brennan." Liz rolled her eyes. "God I hate that man. He's such a pompous right wing NRA loving ass."

"Hey!" Abbie turned to stare Donnelly down. "I resemble that comment!"

"And yet we still love you," Liz retorted. "It's amazing really."

"Love you too Liz," Abbie cooed as she blew the EADA a kiss.

"Ohmygod," Olivia murmured as she watched the two lawyers joke around with each other. _And Elliot thinks nobody would believe him about the balloons_, she thought to herself.

"What's the schedule look like?" Alex asked. "The usual?"

"Yup," Serena said. "All disclosures, pre-trial motions, etc. will be filed tomorrow, jury selection Tuesday and we get the show on the road on Wednesday."

"Seems fast," Olivia observed.

"He exercised his right to a speedy trial." Liz rolled her eyes. "The dumbass."

"What does the witness list look like?" Alex asked, easily slipping into prosecutorial mode.

"We'll start with Melinda and the DNA, two of the three priors agreed to testify, Stabler – of course – and then it'll be you two to finish up. Right now we're trying to figure out who would be the best to end with," Serena said. "On the one hand we have the NYPD Detective shot in the line of duty, but on the other hand we have the brave ADA who risked her own safety to help stop this predator and is still sporting some rather impressive injuries that will leave quite the impression with the jury."

"I still can't believe the dumb-fuck is going to trial," Alex muttered, running a hand through her hair.

"Langan advised against taking the deal," Serena answered. "I think he feels he has an actual chance to win this one since he won't be going up against you."

"I really hate that guy," Alex grumbled.

"Me too," Liz, Abbie, Olivia and Serena chorused.

"You should end with Alex," Olivia spoke up. "She'll make a better closing witness. Especially because of her injuries – they're so much more visible than mine. Emotional impact and all that stuff you guys are always going on and on about."

"I'll get a feel for the jury and decide when it gets closer," Serena told her. "I figure we'll probably be calling you two Thursday morning – the DNA is going to take some time to walk the jury through. You two good to do one more round of trial prep sometime Tuesday?"

"Whenever you want us," Alex answered. "Apparently I've been ordered onto medical leave for this week, and Liv is obviously out for a while; she has a checkup on Friday and we'll find out then when she needs to start PT."

"Hopefully they'll let me onto at least desk-duty by next week," Olivia grumbled, not at all pleased with the thought of being stuck at home alone while everybody else was at work. She hated sitting still.

"I hate to be the one to bring this up," Liz cut in, "but you two do realize that Langan will question you about the sting – thereby calling your relationship into question in open court, right?"

Alex had already figured this out for herself, but hadn't wanted to bring it up until she and Liv were alone to really talk about everything that was going on with them. It was all so new and they'd been functioning on emotion rather than cogent thought because they'd been safely sequestered in their own little world for this brief moment in time. She let her eyes drop to focus on Olivia who was suddenly very interested in the stitching on the pillow that she was cradling against her stomach to support her injured arm.

"We'll discuss it later," Alex responded to Liz's observation for the both of them.

Abbie watched Alex's face cloud with concern as the blonde observed her dark lover and knew that the duo had hit their limit for teasing for the day, or – at the very least – the next few hours time. "Enough shop talk!" She clapped her hands to draw everybody's attention to her. "My Boys are playing your G-men today, who wants to make a little wager on the outcome of the game?"

"Hundred bucks?" Liz looked at Abbie challengingly. "You game Carmichael, or is that a little too steep for a federal prosecutor?"

"Oh, you're on grandma," Abbie laughed as she shook Liz's hand to seal the deal. "Bring it."

+++/+++\+++

"I can't believe they lost," Abbie grumbled as she watched Liz doing what had to be the most hideously god-awful 'happy dance' ever invented.

"WooHoo!" Liz laughed as she shimmied around the coffee table. "God I love winning!"

"Are they always like this?" Olivia asked Alex softly.

"Mmmhmm," Alex confirmed with a smile.

"And here all of us at the precinct thought you lawyer types were just a bunch of stuck-up, uptight, self-righteous, stabilizing-rod-up-your-asses stick-in-the-muds."

"Yeah, we want you to think that – it's part of our charm," Serena laughed.

"Well, not to be the total buzz kill-" Abbie stood and stretched "-but I do need to get going. I have an early flight out in the morning and I still need to go back to my hotel and pack."

"I can stay if you need me," Maggie told her niece.

"We'll be fine," Alex assured her.

"If you're sure," Abbie studied her friend carefully before nodding her approval. "Yeah, you're fine. We'll pack up and get out of your hair – I'm sure you two would like to be alone."

"Thank you for hanging out and helping around the house this weekend," Alex told her friend sincerely. "Despite the embarrassing moments, you were a real help."

Abbie smiled. "Well… you wouldn't want me to tone down my natural charm just because you're injured, right? You know I love you Alex."

"Yeah." Alex nodded. "That's why I put up with your shit Carmichael."

"Good to know," Abbie laughed.

"I think we should probably head out too." Maggie looked at Liz pointedly. "Did you drive over or can I offer you a ride?"

"I would love a ride," Liz said. "It'd be a real shame to have to spend my winnings on cab fare."

Abbie blew a giant raspberry in the general direction of Liz Donnelly and Serena and Maggie laughed as Liz turned to Abbie, stuck her thumbs into her temples and waggled her outstretched fingers at the Texan as she mockingly stuck her tongue out at her in a _na-na-na-na-na _gesture.

"They never stop, do they?" Olivia murmured, torn between amusement and outright horror that the women could keep up the teasing for as long as they do.

+++/+++\+++

"Alone at last," Alex sighed contentedly to herself as she closed the door behind their departing visitors and latched the deadbolt. She loved them all, but she was definitely looking forward to spending some quality time with Liv.

She padded back into the living room to find the handsome detective sprawled across the couch in much the same position she'd left her in, only now the olive skinned beauty was fast asleep. Alex smiled to herself and tip-toed around the couch and down the hall, through her bedroom and into the adjoining bath where she quickly stripped and climbed into the shower. While their earlier shower had been an extremely enjoyable experience, she hadn't really gotten too clean from it.

Once she was well scrubbed and refreshed, Alex pulled on a pair of running shorts and a shirt and shuffled down the hall, past the still sleeping detective, and into the kitchen where she started pulling out random ingredients she'd need to prepare their dinner.

Flour, yeast, warm water, a large mixing bowl and her Kitchen Aid stand mixer were scattered around the various granite surfaces in her kitchen and she was literally elbow-deep in dough when a still sleepy Olivia wandered into the room rubbing her eyes in the most adorable way.

"Feel better?" Alex asked with a smile as she extended her arms and pressed into the dough she was working.

Olivia looked up and frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Um, cooking," Alex smirked.

"Cooking?"

"Yes, cooking. Really Liv, you know – the necessary step that must be completed before one is able to eat."

"Huh." Olivia grinned sheepishly. "I thought that was the 'pick up the phone' step in the process. I didn't know you cook."

"There's lots about me you don't know." Alex winked as she reached into a drawer and pulled out a giant pastry rolling pin.

Olivia winced at the sound that echoed through the room when the blonde _whacked_ the wooden dowel into the pile of dough on the counter. "Damn. Remind me to never piss you off when you have a weapon in your hand."

Alex feigned confusion and held Olivia's eyes as she brought the pin down with yet another resounding _whack_. "Why?"

"What can I do to help?" Olivia answered Alex's question with one of her own as she gingerly slid onto a barstool in front of the island the blonde was working at.

"Um, nothing," Alex said. "Unless you want to put the toppings on once I get it all ready to go. I hate to break it to you Liv but you're kinda useless with only one functioning arm."

"That's not what you were saying this morning," Olivia retorted. "This morning you were all about the _Oh God_s and _Fuck yes Liv_s -" she let her voice drop into the realm of silken sex as she finished "- and _I love you_s. Those were my favorite."

Alex smiled and wiped her hands off on a kitchen towel as she slowly rounded the island. "I do love you. I have for so long and it's so nice to be able to finally tell you."

"Ditto." Olivia grinned.

"No more Patrick Swayze movies for you, missy," Alex said as she leaned in to kiss the brunette softly.

"Not even _Dirty Dancing_?"

"Easy tiger," Alex chuckled as she kissed Olivia again. "That's dessert. Let me carbo-load you first."

"Ah, I see," Olivia murmured as she reached out with her good arm to pull her lover in tight. "Should have known there were ulterior motives to your deciding to feed me."

Alex smiled and leaned in to rest her forehead against the brunette's. "No ulterior motives Detective. I'd be happy just sitting in the same room with you all night. I just wanted to make you a good home-cooked meal. Once we're off the Vicodin -" she pointed at Olivia "- and the Tylenol with Codeine -" she pointed at herself "- I'll even go so far as to cook for you **_and_** provide a nice glass of wine."

"Can't wait," Olivia whispered, tilting her chin out enough to softly recapture Alex's lips with her own.


	11. Chapter 11

**_…_**

**_Part 11_**

"What toppings are sounding good?" Alex asked as she dug around in her fridge.

Olivia, too distracted by the lovely sight of toned legs that seemed to go on forever before they disappeared into delightfully short running shorts, failed to hear the question that was directed toward her.

"Liv?" Alex stood up and turned around to stare at the woman seated at her counter. She smiled when she saw the look on Olivia's face – noting the way her eyes were glazed and slightly dilated, the faint flush to her cheeks, and the way her lips were parted ever so slightly with her tongue poking out and captured between her teeth.

Olivia shook her head to try and refocus herself on the conversation they had been having. "Hmm?" she mumbled, looking mildly embarrassed at having been caught staring.

Alex hooked her heel around the refrigerator door and pulled it closed behind her. "See something you like, Detective?"

"Mmmhmm." Olivia smiled.

"Easy tiger. Now that I have your attention," Alex said, and noticed that she didn't exactly have the brunette's attention as Olivia's gaze seemed focused on her breasts. "Liv!" she yelled.

"What?" Olivia snapped out of her stupor.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." Olivia grinned as she surreptitiously wiped the back of her hand over her chin to make sure that she hadn't been drooling. "Fine. Why?"

"You seem… distracted," Alex observed.

"Are you wearing anything under those clothes?" Olivia blurted before she clapped her hand over her mouth in horror. "I didn't mean to say that out loud."

"Well, to answer your question anyways," Alex drawled as she sidled in closer to the flustered brunette and slid her arms around her neck. "No."

"Fuck me," Olivia breathed.

"Hmm, later my love," Alex kissed her softly. "Food first. Can't take the pain meds on an empty stomach, they'll make you nauseous."

"You are such a sweet talker," Olivia pulled Alex in tighter. "I bet you say that to all the girls."

"Only you Liv," Alex murmured, softly tracing Olivia's jaw with her fingertips.

+++/+++\+++

After dinner they returned to the living room couch to relax and wait for their medications to take the edge off of both of their pain. Alex settled in first and leaned back in such a way that she was able to wrap Olivia in her arms and hold the brunette tight as they sat and relaxed, enjoying the heat of the other's body against their own, enjoying the feeling of warm contentment that flooded their bones from the easy contact.

Alex stared at the woman cradled in her arms and smiled softly to herself; a week ago she would have never had the courage to even imagine that they'd been here together like this. Fantasized about being together and doing other things, sure, but this easy intimacy that had sprung up between them would have been too painful to think about because she had never considered that it would ever happen.

Now they were destined for court, with Trevor asking the questions on cross and she knew that Liz had been right when she'd brought up Langan questioning them on the stand about their 'relationship'. If only because he was an angry petty bastard. Hell, she had to admit that it would make for a nice slice of courtroom drama to accuse the ADA of being a lesbian while she was under oath. It could be easily sidestepped by a quick indignant '_I don't see how my personal life is relevant to this case'_ statement while Serena screamed out an objection and Brennan would shoot Langan down. There were no grounds upon which Trevor could legally pursue that line of questioning – but he could still ask.

"Earth to Alex," Olivia murmured, lifting the blonde's hand to her lips and kissing her knuckles softly. "Anybody home?"

Alex smiled. "Sorry. Sometimes I get lost in my head like that."

"S'okay," Olivia assured her. "That beautiful brain of yours is just one of the many things I love about you."

Alex blushed and hid her face in the back of Olivia's neck.

"What are you thinking about sweetheart?" Olivia murmured, turning so she could look directly into Alex's eyes.

"Us," Alex answered honestly.

"And this causes you to look so worried?"

"More like, introspective," Alex answered carefully. "I was thinking about what Liz had said earlier about court."

Olivia suddenly became very interested in the stitching on the pillow she was holding again. "Oh."

"Liv," Alex sighed. "You did this earlier when it was brought up as well."

"Did what?"

"Looked sad before you distracted yourself with the stitch patterns on that stupid throw pillow." Alex placed two fingers under the brunette's chin and lifted Olivia's eyes to hers. "What is it?"

"Nothin'," Liv mumbled. How could she possibly explain to Alex that she was afraid of what will happen when those outside their closest circle of friends and family found out about them? Would she be forced to leave SVU? Would Alex? Surely they wouldn't be allowed to work together still, would they? What kind of repercussions would Alex face for officially 'coming out'? A lesbian cop wasn't such a big deal – it was something that was practically assumed until proven otherwise. But lawyers are a completely different animal. ADAs are especially different. ADAs are political. And politics make a Great White feeding frenzy look refined and decorous. Alex wanted the DA's chair, she had said as much the very first time they had met – and for as progressive as New York was, she didn't think the odds were too good for a lesbian ADA to win election to the DA's chair.

"Liar," Alex murmured. "Talk to me Liv. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Olivia answered softly.

Alex studied the usually confident woman in her arms and was honestly confused as to what could possibly evoke this reaction from her. Perhaps she didn't want the guys – besides Elliot – to know? "We don't have to tell anybody anything if you don't want us to," she guessed. "As for the trial, it was an undercover op, they have no way and no legal grounds to question whether or not we're really together Liv."

"Are we?" Olivia mumbled, her voice so quiet that Alex had to strain to hear those two simple words.

"Liv," Alex sighed. "I thought we were. Can you please just tell me what it is you're thinking so I have some idea of what to say?"

"You can't do this." Olivia waved indicatively from herself to Alex.

"Um, I thought I did an okay job of it earlier." Alex frowned. "Didn't I? I mean, you sounded like you were enjoying yourself. Did I do something wrong? God, I didn't hurt you did I?" she rambled, her voice rising in pitch as she worried.

Olivia groaned and ran her hand over her face. She had merely been thinking of Alex's future and somehow she'd ended up hurting the adorable blonde's feelings anyways. She was such a fuck-up. "Alex," she sighed. "Please, don't be ridiculous."

"What are you talking about? Dammit Benson," Alex chastised, "tell me what is wrong!"

All self-control left her at Alex's frustrated words. As was often the case for her when faced with the demanding blonde, she lost her temper. "You! Can't! Do! This!" she yelled. "Us. You can't afford to be gay!"

Alex stared. "I can't afford to be gay? Um, hate to break it to you Liv, but I am. I am. God!" she let go of Olivia and carefully stood, running her hands through her hair as she began pacing in front of the couch. "Where the hell do you get off telling me that I can't be gay? Not even twelve hours ago we were fucking!"

Olivia winced as if she had been slapped. "That wasn't fucking Alex," she murmured.

"You're right," the ADA fumed as she turned to stare at the brunette. "We were making love. I was making love to you because I fucking love you and now you try and tell me that I can't be gay? Where the fuck do you get off Liv? Seriously! Tell me! Where the fuck do you get off telling me that I can't be gay when this morning you looked mighty comfortable between my thighs and you had your tongue shoved in my…"

"Alex!" Olivia yelled, desperate to stop this fight before the blonde truly, truly got going. "Jesus, that's not what I meant!" she groaned, unable and unwilling to try and stem the flow of tears that were beginning to course down her cheeks. "That's not what I meant," she whispered as she stared into Alex's eyes imploringly. "That wasn't what I meant."

"So, enlighten me," Alex demanded, somewhat placated by Olivia's pleading but still clearly pissed. "What did you mean when you tried to tell me that I can't afford to be gay? Huh? What?"

"Nobody cares about a gay cop," Olivia tried to explain what she was feeling. "It's expected, almost. But they will care about you. You're an ADA Alex. An ADA with designs to someday get elected to the DA's chair. Do you really think you'll get the DA's chair if you come out? Do you really think that the good people of New York will elect a lesbian district attorney? You… can't… afford… to… be… gay," she repeated herself slowly.

Alex nodded slowly as it all began to make sense. Of course Olivia would be more concerned with her future law career than her own, that's just so… Olivia, to worry about everybody else beside herself. And to, in some small way, take the blame as well. "Liv," she sighed as she stopped pacing and stood in front Olivia. "Look at me," she commanded.

Watery brown eyes looked up from the rug to capture hers. "What?"

"I will not hide who I am," Alex stated slowly and clearly, willing the stubborn brunette to actually _hear_ what she was saying. "I will not hide behind a false mantle of expectations. I will not hide who I love. I… will… not… hide. I will not lie about who I am. I will not lie about who I love. I… will… not… lie."

Olivia's teeth worried at her lower lip as she stared at the impassioned blonde that was now crouching in front of her. "You have to."

"I don't **_have_** to do anything Olivia," Alex stated. Calm. Sure. Collected. She was absolutely certain of what she was saying. "I don't **_have_** to hide. I don't **_have_** to lie. Liv -" she grasped the brunette's hand in both of her own "- I know this is fast. I know that a week ago this, us, was all just a fantastical daydream. But I also know who I am, and I know who I love."

"Alex," Olivia sighed.

"Don't Alex me," the blonde warned, her temper beginning to flare again. "If you aren't comfortable telling people then I'm fine saying nothing. But do not put this onto me and my career. Don't try and play if off as something that's for my own good," Alex practically snarled those last four words. "I will not lie to you, and by the same token I will not tolerate you lying to me. If you're not comfortable, then fine – we'll deal with it. But don't you dare make it about me and my goddamn career. Do you want to hide?"

"It's not that simple Alex," Olivia tried again.

"Yes. It. Is," Alex replied shaking her head. "It really is. What do you want to do? You. For you. What do you want?"

"All I want is you," Olivia sighed. "I just want you Alex."

"You have me," Alex assured her. "For as long as you want me, you have me. What do you want people to know about me?"

"That you're really ticklish on the inside of your upper thigh?" Olivia smiled, attempting a bit of humor to lighten the suddenly extremely tense mood.

"I don't think the world is ready for that information yet," Alex chuckled. "I'm serious Liv. I think I have more than made my opinion known on the subject – what do you want to do? Because, you're right – it will be a big deal when I do come out and if you're not ready for the scrutiny, if you're not ready for the backlash then we'll just sit tight and wait until a better time."

"If you don't care, why did you hide it for these last couple years?"

"I didn't hide it Olivia," Alex groaned. "I didn't hide and I didn't lie. When people would ask me if I was seeing anybody special, I'd say no. If they pressed as to why, I'd tell them that the person I had my eye on hadn't asked me out yet. Then they would ask me out and I'd have to politely let them know that they weren't the one I had my eye on. Aaaand, if anybody, anybody had bothered to just flat out ask me if I liked boobies or weenies I'd have told them that I was quite the boob girl."

Olivia laughed at that because from her limited experience with the blonde she couldn't deny that Alex was, indeed, quite the boob girl.

Alex shook her head. "Liv," she tried again. "This isn't about me. What do you want?"

Olivia shrugged.

"Liv," Alex let her voice soften. "Look. I'm not saying I want to take out a front-page ad on the cover of the _Post_. I'm just asking what we are going to tell people. Forget this case, forget the testimony. Trevor can't put us on the stand and make us confirm or deny that we are gay. I'm talking about our friends. What do you want to tell our friends Liv?"

"He can't make us come out on the stand?" Olivia asked.

Alex smiled and rolled her eyes. "Have you heard nothing I've said? No. He can't."

"Oh. I don't care if the guys know," Olivia murmured. "They all know I'm in love with you anyways, at least if they knew they would get off my ass about it. I'm just," she sighed. "I'm a very private person Alex. I'm not quite ready for a public proclamation about us yet."

"I'm fine with that Liv," Alex assured her. "And, like I said, I'm not jockeying for front page of the _Post_. Work will be the hardest because we'll still have to be professional, but it'll be nice to be able to just come down to take you out for lunch without schlepping around unnecessary paperwork as a prop. I'm not asking you to kiss me goodbye on the courthouse steps, or to walk into the precinct holding my hand. But I'd like to be able to take you to a romantic dinner and hold your hand if I feel like it, or kiss you in front of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center if the mood hits me."

"I know." Olivia smiled as she ran her hand through her hair. "I know Alex. I'd like that too."

"Good," Alex breathed.

"I'm sorry," Olivia whispered.

"Eh," Alex smirked. "I probably could have reigned in my temper a little bit too. I'm sorry Liv."

Olivia cocked her head appraisingly as she looked at Alex. "So… we just had our first fight as a couple?"

Alex pursed her lips thoughtfully. "It would appear we did."

"At least no blood was spilled," Olivia observed.

"True," Alex chuckled.

"So…" Olivia smiled as she let her voice trail off suggestively.

"So… what?"

"Does this mean we get to have make-up sex now?"

"I like how your mind works Detective." Alex grinned.


	12. Chapter 12

…

_**Part 12**_

"C'mere." Olivia smiled as she sat up just a little bit straighter and pulled Alex up next to her.

Alex stood and maneuvered herself so that she was straddling Olivia's lap. She purred as she slid her palms over the brunette's neck and around the back of her head to tangle themselves playfully in the soft hair at the nape of Olivia's neck. "I like this."

Olivia slid her hand up Alex's torso to gently cradle the blonde's face in her palm. "I'm sorry," she whispered, her thumb brushing lightly over Alex's cheek.

Alex's eyes fluttered closed at the delicate caress, a ghost of a smile tweaking her lips as she leaned her face into the touch. "S'okay," she murmured, stormy blue eyes flashing open to capture molten brown. "I'm sorry I didn't make it more clear to you that Trevor can't make us come out on the stand," she apologized.

"Alex," Olivia groaned, her eyes focused on the blonde's lips; noticing nothing beyond how soft and welcoming they looked. "Just. Kiss me."

Alex smirked and unconsciously licked her lips as she slowly closed the distance separating them, stopping herself when she was just shy of Olivia's lips. "Liv," she whispered, purposefully remaining where she was and letting her breath dance across the brunette's parted waiting lips.

Olivia, trapped under the weight of Alex's body and the staggering weight of her own desire, could only groan her disapproval at the blonde's playful pause.

"Look at me Liv," Alex murmured, sticking her tongue out and slowly tracing the line of the brunette's lower lip.

Brown eyes struggled to focus on desire-filled blue. "God, Alex," Olivia rasped.

Alex drew a ragged breath at the seductive husk in Olivia's voice. "Liv," she murmured, "I know this is fast, but … I want you to know … I … want to make sure you understand …," she started and stopped as she fought to organize her thoughts against the rising force of her own arousal as Olivia began rolling her hips up into her.

Olivia smiled as she watched the usually eloquent blonde struggle to formulate a coherent thought. "Alex," she murmured, sliding her hand from the blonde's cheek around to her nape, her strong fingers wrapping around the attorney's neck and massaging gently. "I know, Alex," she smiled, her grip on the blonde's neck tightening as she pulled the woman atop her in closer and finally, finally, captured Alex's lips with her own.

Twin moans punctuated that first soft crush of lips, breaths mingling, fingers stroking as lips parted, grasped, and opened wider allowing room for tongues to dart out and touch, dance, mingle, stroke. Alex sighed happily into the kiss when she felt Olivia's hand slide down over her shoulder and across the flat of her chest before softly, gently, tenderly cupping her breast through the thin material of her shirt.

Olivia moaned appreciatively as she felt Alex's nipple harden into her palm, groaned loudly as the blonde straddling her began to slowly, so slowly, rock against her. She felt her own body respond gloriously to Alex's reaction to her touch, her own nipples tightening sympathetically as Alex arched and pressed herself into her palm.

_God. Just, god,_ Alex thought as she felt Olivia's hand begin to massage her gently through her shirt. _Fuck … more … need more_, her body pleaded as the brunette's played softly against her. "I won't break Liv," she murmured, sliding one hand over Olivia's and pushing both hands against her breast more firmly. "I won't break," she repeated, using her fingers to make the brunette's touch more firm, more demanding, more possessive.

Olivia drew a ragged breath as Alex's fingers pressed on top of her own, tightening her, their, grasp on the firm mound hidden under Alex's shirt. "Alex," she moaned, drawing her hand out from under the blonde's and quickly moving it to the hem of her shirt.

Alex bit her lip and grinned as she felt Olivia's fingers tangle themselves in the thin material of her shirt. She quickly reached down to remove the offending garment and expose herself to the brunette's hungry gaze. She watched, enraptured, as strong tan fingers slid up her stomach to palm her breast possessively, her breath hitching in her throat as she watched the way those fingers slid around her painfully aroused nipple, framing the stiff peak momentarily before sliding closed around the nub, pinching it tight between two knuckles.

"Christ Liv," she gasped as the rough touch against her nipple sent a jolt of need through her body to settle in the growing wetness between her legs.

Olivia smiled at the blonde's outburst as she leaned in and captured the blonde's other nipple between her lips and sucked hungrily against it, moaning in pleasure as she felt Alex arch into her mouth and buck needfully against her hips. It had never been like this before; she had never derived so much pleasure from giving pleasure to somebody else before. Everything with Alex was different, each touch, each caress, every hastily grunted, whispered, yelled plea affected her as if she were the one receiving the pleasure instead of delivering it. And, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that there was one underlying reason as to why everything with Alex was so different. So much more… powerful.

"I love you," Olivia groaned softly against puckered flesh as her mouth trailed back up to recapture Alex's lips with her own and her hand began a slow teasing path down firm quivering abdominals to trace hesitantly along the edge of the blonde's running shorts.

Alex could have sobbed with relief when Olivia finally, finally, reclaimed her lips, their tongues immediately searching out each other to thrust, massage and duel for dominance of their kiss as the passion, as the need between them grew. She moaned loudly as she felt Olivia's tentatively questing hand slide over her hip to grasp her ass roughly and pull her in closer before the brunette's fingers began alternating between pinching, massaging, and tracing slow teasing circles against the muscle.

The need for air forced her to pull back, to pull away from Olivia's seeking hungry lips; her breath coming fast and shallow and, even through her lust filled haze, she realized how the pacing of her breaths matched that of the pulse pounding through her veins, her ears, her throbbing core, and she was rendered speechless by the simple idea of how quickly, how goddamn quickly, this – her need, her desire, her want – had grown from what started as a simple kiss, a whispered apology, a soft loving caress.

It was madness. It was fucking glorious.

Olivia groaned when she felt Alex pull away, moaned loudly as the blonde's demanding questing hands found their way down her chest to her breasts. Her breath hitched in her throat as Alex's grip on those twin mounds tightened and relaxed, and tightened and relaxed, the movement rhythmic and demanding as the blonde moved her fingers in time with her thrusting hips. And distantly, in the far recesses of her primal mind, she realized that those grasps, those thrusts, matched the racing beat of her heart, matched the throbbing pulse that thundered in her ears and pulsed between her legs.

"Liv," Alex groaned wantonly as she felt the brunette's hand slide down her ass and over the center seam of her shorts. She bucked hard when those fingers pushed into her through her ruined shorts, cried out wantonly as those talented, oh so goddamn talented fingers began to rub against her apex through the soaked satiny material of her running shorts.

Olivia leaned her head down and recaptured a pert nipple between her teeth as she slipped her fingers around the inseam of Alex's shorts to dip into the pool of wet heat waiting for her. "Christ," she moaned as she trailed her finger through the blonde's arousal, from front to back and then back again. Up through her center, dipping slightly into her pulsing, clenching, wanting channel before continuing on, continuing up and around the bundle of nerves at the apex of Alex's sex to circle and tease before reapplying pressure, steady rubbing pressure against that sensitive, oh so sensitive point.

Alex, rocking into her lover's gentle teasing caress, groaned loudly when she felt her lover's touch leave her. "Liv!"

Olivia smiled and nipped gently at the nipple she'd been toying with as she slid her hand back up to Alex's hip and tucked her fingers inside the waistband of the blonde's shorts. "Off," she murmured, tugging indicatively against the material.

"Mmm," Alex acquiesced quickly as she stood and ripped the shorts off her hips, letting gravity take them to the floor and leaving her wonderfully exposed.

"So beautiful," Olivia breathed before leaning in and nuzzling soft damp curls.

"Liv," Alex groaned, automatically tangling her hands in delicious brown locks as her hips rocked into Olivia's touch.

Olivia's eyes rolled back in her head as she breathed in deep the intoxicating aroma of Alex's arousal. "God," she muttered, scooting forward to the edge of the couch as her one good hand wrapped itself around the blonde's hip and pulled her in closer. She needed more. She needed to taste.

She slid her hand down off Alex's hip, over the blonde's thigh to rest behind the bend of her knee. "More," she murmured as she pulled against the joint until Alex released her weight from it so she could position it over her shoulder and open the blonde up to herself further.

"Liiiiiiiiiv," Alex moaned, her fingers massaging Olivia's scalp as she tried to steer the brunette's mouth to where she needed it to be.

Olivia looked up the length of the blonde to find blue eyes, usually cool and calculating but now full of fire and desire staring back at her. She arched a brow teasingly, holding Alex's gaze as she slowly extended her tongue to brush it lightly against the blonde's clit.

"Fuck," Alex groaned, her eyes snapping shut as her chin dropped to her chest. "Liv, please," she moaned, her grip against the sexy shorn locks tightening.

Olivia licked her lips as she moved her attention to the wet pulsing folds before her. "I love you Alex," she murmured against the waiting heat before she slowly, deliberately ran her tongue the length of the slit before latching onto the swollen twitching bundle of nerves at the apex and suckling softly against it.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhit," Alex hissed as she felt Olivia's lips wrap around her.

"Mmm," Olivia moaned appreciatively as she released Alex's clit and began flicking her tongue against it.

The sensation, that wonderfully electric sensation that was driving Alex beyond the bounds of sanity was also pushing her past the point of being able to stand. "Liv," she gasped after a particularly violent spasm rocked through her. "Can't stand," she moaned, forcing her eyes open to focus on the brunette that was driving her mad.

Olivia whimpered and dove back in, not wanting to stop her oral attack.

"Liv," Alex groaned as she swayed, maintaining her balance only by tightening her grip of the brunette's hair. "Please."

With one last broad lick through what she decided had to be heaven, Olivia gently guided Alex's leg off her shoulder. She leaned back against the couch and pulled the quivering blonde back down onto her lap.

"Liv," Alex gasped at the first press of fingertips against her opening. "Liiiiiiiiiv," she moaned, drawing her lovers name out as those wonderfully dexterous fingers filled her.

Olivia moaned quietly at the feeling of Alex's sex clenching around her, drawing her in deeper, deeper, god so much deeper until the flat of her palm pressed tight to Alex's clit.

"Fuck," Alex groaned, rocking her hips into the contact before she began to lift herself up, sliding up Olivia's fingers before pushing herself back down.

_This is the single fucking sexiest thing I have ever seen_, Olivia couldn't help but think to herself as she watched Alex moving above her, riding her fingers. She could feel the blonde's sex tightening around her, could see the way Alex's abdominals were beginning to twitch, could hear the blonde's moans growing louder and louder with each thrust as she pushed herself that much closer to release.

"God Liv," Alex moaned as she felt Olivia's fingers begin to curl and scissor inside her, rubbing stretching her wonderfully as she pumped herself closer, closer, steadily closer to orgasm.

"Alex," Olivia moaned, lifting her hips to push into the back of her hand and force herself that little bit deeper into the blonde.

Blue eyes flashed open to capture brown as Alex pushed herself harder, harder, god so much harder and rode Olivia deeper, so much deeper and faster until with one last thrust she unabashedly ground her hips onto the brunette's hand, chanting Olivia's name as if it were a prayer as wave after wave of ecstasy rolled through her.

"Hi." Alex smiled shyly after she had regained control of her breathing.

"Hi." Olivia smirked, wiggling her fingers that were still buried inside the blonde.

"Stop," Alex giggled as she buried her face in the brunette's neck, whimpering softly as she felt Olivia pull out.

Olivia rubbed the blonde's back reassuringly. "I love you Alex."

"I love you," Alex mumbled against Olivia's collarbone.

Olivia started laughing softly.

"What?" Alex demanded.

"Nothing," Olivia chuckled.

"Oooooliiiiiivia," Alex sang.

"Fine," Olivia laughed. "I was just thinking that fighting with you over warrants is going to be so much more fun now."

Alex licked her lips and grinned. "So I guess it'd be bad to tell you that I always get a little, um, worked up when I argue?"

_What? _Olivia stared. "Really?"

"Mmhmm." Alex smirked as she tucked her fingers into the brunette's sweats.

"Oh fuck me," Olivia groaned.

"I plan to detective," Alex purred as she stood up and began tugging Olivia's sweats off, pulling them completely off and throwing them distractedly over the back of the couch. "I plan to," she licked her lips as she spread Olivia's legs wider and slowly, tortuously, lowered her mouth to the brunette's waiting sex.

"Ooooooooh god," Olivia moaned as she felt Alex's tongue brush lightly over her center.

Alex smiled and blew softly onto Olivia's swollen clit, causing the brunette to jump and twitch in front of her. "God I love you Liv," she purred before latching onto the enticing nub and sucking hungrily against it, teasing the sensitive nerves with her tongue as she easily slid two fingers home and began thrusting slow and deep; the steady push and pull of her fingers moving counterpoint to her sucks and flicks against Olivia's clit.

Alex hummed happily around the swollen bundle of nerves as she began increasing the force and tempo of her thrusts into the brunette, making sure to curl her fingers to rub over the sensitive spot she'd found earlier on every down stroke. She could taste Olivia's increasing arousal, could hear her impending orgasm getting closer and closer with the growing volume of each moan, gasp, plea and whimper.

"Alex," Olivia moaned as she was pushed higher, higher, god so much higher by the blonde's decidedly wicked tongue and her oh so fucking talented fingers. "Fuck … god … Alex … so … close," she gasped as she felt herself racing toward her own release.

"Come on baby," Alex purred, moving her free hand to stroke and rub Olivia's clit so she could sit back and watch the brunette come. "God Liv … you're so beautiful," she encouraged softly as she felt the walls of Olivia's sex begin to clench around her fingers.

Olivia came undone screaming Alex's name, every muscle in her body tensing and releasing for what felt like a blissful eternity with the force of her orgasm.

"God Alex," Olivia moaned as she felt the last wave of her orgasm recede. "Hmmm," Olivia smiled goofily as a rogue spasm rocked through her when Alex carefully withdrew her fingers. "Wow."

"Mmm." Alex licked her lips and nodded. "I love you," she murmured, tenderly stroking the inside of Olivia's thighs.

"C'mere." Olivia pulled the blonde up her body so she could kiss her softly, tenderly, adoringly. "I love you," she breathed.

"Know what?" Alex purred, leaning in and recapturing Olivia's lips with her own.

"Hmm?" Olivia hummed.

Alex smirked playfully. "You're right. Fighting over warrants is going to be sooooooo much more fun now."


	13. Chapter 13

**_…_**

**_Part 13_**

_Pop._

_What was that? Alex thought as she turned to see Olivia sprawled across the pavement. Liv! No! Got to help her … aaaargh! What? Nonononono, let me go! I have to get to Olivia. She's been shot, she needs my help!_

_The arm around her neck flexed, squeezing her throat and making breathing an even more difficult task than it'd been mere seconds before. She instinctively wrapped her fingers around the arm, desperately trying to pry it away from her neck so she'd be able to breathe. Desperately trying to pry it away so she could run back to Liv. She couldn't believe that he'd shot her. _

_Shot her. She hadn't even done anything to him and he fucking shot her. _

_God, but it's getting hard to breathe, Alex thought. If he would only loosen his damned grip I'd be able to breathe._

_Desperate eyes scanned the dank and dirty alley but found nothing that she could use to help herself escape. She was at his mercy, and she definitely didn't like that. A wild kick landed on her assailants kneecap, the impact making him jerk his arm tighter and lift her up higher before he threw her down on top of a trashcan. Bile rose in her throat as she felt the hard length of him pressing against her ass, that physical manifestation of his want more terrifying than his muttered curses and derogatory statements about her sexuality. _

_She had to get free, she had to get away from him. But how? _

_Fight, the voice in her head responded, somehow managing to sound as if it were dripping with sarcasm even though it was her own conscience. _

_Fight Alex. You're strong, don't let him do this to you. Don't let yourself become a statistic for your own fucking office to deal with. Don't let yourself become a victim for SVU to have to seek retribution for. _

_Fight Alex. Fight._

_+++/+++_

Olivia awoke to Alex's heavy breathing and whimpered moans as the blonde struggled to free herself from whatever subconscious movie she was trapped in. Alex, at that moment, was an incongruent mess of images – her blonde hair splayed across her pillow like a halo highlighting her pure spirit, and her wrinkled forehead and pained expression drawing the eye away from the unsullied beauty of her form to her agony.

Alex whimpered again and thrashed in the sheets as if she were struggling for her life. This realization shook Olivia to her core and she moved to wake her lover. "Alex," she called out softly as she sat up in bed and turned to look at Alex. "Alex baby, wake up," she tried again, this time reaching out and giving the blonde a good shake.

She'd expected Alex to startle awake, she'd expected her to open her eyes and perhaps struggle to distance herself from her dream. She most certainly did not expect one of Alex's flailing arms to land a solid jab to her injured shoulder.

"Holy fuck!" Olivia hissed through clenched teeth as a bolt of pain shot through her and her good hand moved to soothe the wounded shoulder. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!" she swore as she flopped back onto the bed and pushed hard into her shoulder, almost as if she were trying to push the pain back by brute physical force. It wasn't working. "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!"

Pulled out of her dream by the physical contact, Alex instinctively rolled away from what her mind perceived to be a threat and smacked her face on the edge of the nightstand on her way to the floor.

"Sonofabitch," Alex swore loudly, instinctively reaching up to cradle her injured face. "Goddamn mother fucker fuck!" she continued to rant as she curled in around herself and gently covered her cheek with her hands, her body rocking slightly in an unconscious motion of comfort.

Alex's curse drew Olivia's attention away from her own pain and allowed the feisty detective to focus on her wounded lover.

"Alex," Olivia grunted as she rolled out of the bed, her good hand still pushed into her bad shoulder as she moved. "Alex, baby, where are you?"

"Fuck fuck fuck sonofabitch fuck fuck." Was the only response from the floor on the other side of the bed.

Olivia quickly moved around the foot of the bed to find her lover curled into a ball on the floor, cradling her face in her hands and rocking slightly in time with her rhythmic curses.

"Alex," Olivia murmured as she carefully lowered herself to the floor beside the blonde. "Baby, what happened?" she asked, having already forgotten about her own pain the moment she was faced with Alex's suffering.

Curled in on herself Alex whimpered in pain. "It hurts."

"Alex baby," Olivia tried again. "Let me see what happened. Can I help you sit up?"

Alex drew a fortifying breath and shook her head. "I can do it Liv," she whispered, her voice tinged with pain, as she slowly moved herself into a sitting position; her hands never leaving her face as she moved.

It was a testament to how worried Olivia was that her eyes never once strayed from Alex's hands covering her face to take in the heavenly sight that was Alexandra Cabot in the nude. "Can I see?" she asked softly, not wanting to push the blonde too hard but knowing that she needed to check out Alex's injured face.

Shaking hands slowly fell away to reveal tear soaked cheeks and a vicious cut through the middle of the bruised half of Alex's face that was already beginning to swell and purple again from the recent contusion and which was also seeping copious amounts of blood into the blonde's tears.

"Oh baby," Olivia crooned as she instinctively moved to embrace her lover.

"It hurts Liv," Alex whimpered as she fell into Olivia's protective arms.

"I'm sure it does baby." Olivia bit her lip to try and keep her own tears at bay as she carefully squeezed her lover, trying to convey a reassurance that she really didn't feel. "I'm going to give you something to put on that and then I'm going to call a doctor," she whispered against blonde silk. "I'll be right back," she murmured as she let go and carefully got to her feet, wincing slightly at her own stab of pain as she moved.

She moved quickly down the hall to the kitchen where she pulled a zip-top bag out of a drawer and folded the top over as she moved across the room to the fridge. She glanced at the ice dispenser and, seeing that it was already set to crushed ice mode, slid the bag into the space and pressed the lever in. The bag slipped out of her tenuous grip and fell to the floor as the first pieces fell in and she swore softly as she quickly retrieved the bag and pinned it to the appliance with her bad arm before again attempting to fill it. Several loud grating minutes later the bag was half full of crushed ice and she was moving again. She grabbed a kitchen towel that was laying on the island on her way out of to the kitchen and hastily wrapped the bag in the protective cloth as she grabbed her cell off of the bar before she practically ran back to the bedroom where she'd left Alex.

"Here baby," she murmured as she dropped to her knees before Alex. "Put this on your cheek while I call Melinda," she instructed as she carefully set the towel clad bag of ice into the blonde's hands.

Alex did as instructed and winced as the bundle came into contact with her injured face. "Cold," she shivered as she molded the ice around her cheek.

"I know Alex," Olivia murmured thoughtlessly as she frantically scanned through her contact list until she found Melinda Warner's phone number. "Finally," she whispered as she highlighted the contact number and hit send.

It was a testament to the dedication of the NYPD's Medical Examiner's office that Melinda answered on the second ring and actually managed to sound wide awake, despite the pre-dawn time of the call.

"_Warner,"_ she answered in what was the NYPD's standard identification process.

"Melinda, it's Benson," Olivia said. "I know it's early, but I had a question and you're the only doctor I know."

"_What is it?"_ Melinda asked, her voice tinged with worry. _"I heard what happened. Are you okay?"_

"I'll live," Olivia told the worried doctor. "Alex fell out of bed and bumped her cheek on the bedside table," she explained their current situation. "The impact cut her cheek through her bruise and it's bleeding."

"_How much blood?"_ Melinda asked and Olivia swore she could hear the Medical Examiner moving around and pulling out clothes.

Olivia turned her back to Alex and whispered into the phone. "Enough that I called you," she whispered, not wanting Alex to worry. "Do I need to take her to the ER or should we…"

"I'm not going to the emergency room," Alex interrupted loudly.

"_She's as good of a patient as you are Olivia," _Melinda chuckled. _"Is she dizzy?"_

"Let me check," Olivia muttered before she covered the handset and turned her attention to her now scowling lover. "Alex, honey, are you dizzy?"

"No," Alex growled.

"Stand up," Olivia instructed, wisely deciding to **_not_** take the stubborn blonde at her word.

"Why?"

"To double check," Olivia replied seriously. "We need to know if your vertigo has returned."

"Fine," Alex huffed, setting the bloodstained towel full of ice onto the bed and pushing herself to her feet. "See," she swayed slightly. "I'm fine."

"She says she's fine but she swayed a bit when she stood up," Olivia reported into the phone.

"I'm not going to the ER," Alex repeated herself.

"_How about if I come by and have a look,"_ Melinda offered. _"If she's fine then it'll be precautionary, and if she needs something that I can't help with we'll be able to force her to go."_

"That would be great." Olivia smiled.

"_Whose apartment are you at?"_

"Alex's," Olivia answered. "Do you know where she lives?"

"_Yeah, I had to drop some files off to her a few months ago before a trial. It's early enough that there shouldn't be any traffic, so I'll be there in twenty minutes – I'm running out the door now."_

"Thanks Melinda," Olivia told the doctor gratefully. "We'll see you in a few."

"Melinda's coming here?" Alex asked as she watched Olivia toss her cell into the middle of the bed.

"Yeah." Olivia nodded. "So let's get some clothes on before she gets here."

"You're bleeding," Alex gasped as she noticed Olivia's stained bandage.

"It's probably from your cheek," Olivia reassured Alex, even though she had a pretty good idea that it probably was her own blood and that the shot Alex had landed to the injury had popped a stitch. She'd just have Melinda check it out once the doctor was done with Alex. "C'mon, let's pull some clothes on. Once we're dressed we can start some coffee."

Fifteen minutes later the two women were dressed and nursing cups of coffee as they sat on the couch and waited for Melinda's arrival. Alex had called down to the security guard at the front desk and let them know that she was expecting a visitor so that way Melinda would be able to come on up without a hassle.

"So are you going to tell me what you were dreaming about?" Olivia asked softly as she carefully watched Alex for a reaction. From Alex's behavior earlier she had a good idea, but she was hoping that getting her to talk about it would help her deal with what had happened.

Alex winced and bit her lip as she shook her head. "Can I tell you later?" she asked, her voice pleading. "I don't want to get into it now. Not when Warner's on her way."

"After Melinda leaves?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah, okay," Alex acquiesced. "I can't believe she's coming out to check on me at four in the morning," she murmured over the rim of her steaming mug. "Why in the world would she do this?"

"You're family. We take care of our own Alex, your should know that."

Alex shook her head, her hair swinging gently in the ponytail she'd pulled it up into to get it out of her face. "I'm not," she argued. "Hell, I think you're the only one who likes me in the whole one-six."

"That's wrong on so many levels Alex," Olivia groaned. "One, I love you so I can't hate you. Two, have you already forgotten the way Elliot fought for your at the hospital?"

"He's your partner," Alex mumbled. "He was just looking out for you."

"He was also looking out for you." Olivia ducked her head so she could look into Alex's eye. "We all love you Alex. All the guys do."

"Yeah right," Alex grumbled as she readjusted the ice pack on her face, wincing noticeably at the change in pressure against the bruise.

"Hey," Olivia snapped. "Why the pity party Alex?"

Alex sighed, her shoulders dropping in defeat. Olivia was right. She was being a whiny petulant child. "I'm sorry," she murmured, her gaze still focused on the rug beneath the coffee table. "I just …" she started to explain when she was interrupted by an authoritative knock on her front door.

"That's Melinda." Olivia stood. "We'll talk later," she told the sullen blonde, placing a gentle kiss to the top of her head before quickly crossing the room and disappearing into the foyer to answer the door.

"How are you feeling Alex?" Melinda's careful voice drifted across the room, pulling the blonde out of her thoughts. "Olivia said the bleeding has slowed?"

"I guess?" Alex shrugged noncommittally. "She hasn't let me near a mirror to check it out for myself so I'm not sure."

Melinda turned to look at Olivia. "Really?" she asked, arching a brow questioningly.

Olivia smiled sheepishly and rolled her eyes. "No point worrying her until we know if it's worth freaking out about or not."

Melinda smiled and turned her attention back onto the sullen blonde on the couch. "What happened?"

"She was having a bad dream," Olivia explained. "I woke up to find her tossing and turning and mumbling in her sleep. When I tried to wake her she punched me in the shoulder," she waved at the bloody bandage exposed by the cut of her tank top, "and then rolled away from me. She fell off the bed to the floor and hit her cheek on the nightstand on her way down."

"I see." Melinda nodded as she crouched down in front of Alex and gently pulled the icepack away so she could have a look at the injury. She was pleased to note that Olivia's observation of the bleeding slowing was correct, Alex would most likely not need stitches. "I'll just clean this up and then put a couple butterfly sutures onto the cut to keep it closed," she told Alex as she dug in her bag. "The area is already swelling though, and I'll imagine that the bruising will get worse, but you should be fine."

Olivia breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god."

"Will I be able to take the sutures off before I have to testify?" Alex asked, already imagining Trevor trying to play up her recent injury in an attempt to deflect the jury's attention from the fact that his client had caused the original one.

"You should," Melinda said. "Why?"

Alex shrugged. "Just wondering. Melinda, could you have a look at Olivia's shoulder and make sure that it isn't her blood seeping through the bandage?"

Melinda nodded and allowed Alex to deflect her attention to Olivia. "Absolutely, that was next on my to-do list anyways," she replied as she stood. "Olivia, let's have a look," she motioned the brunette closer, carefully peeling back the bandage to have a look at the detective's shoulder, not surprised to see that Olivia had popped two stitches in all the excitement.

"I know," Olivia whispered softly. "I don't want her to feel guilty. Can you send her for something in the other room or something and just whack some Dermabond on it?"

"Is it okay?" Alex asked from her perch on the couch, her face once again obscured by the icepack she held against her cheek.

"Yep," Melinda directed her response to Alex as she nodded her agreement to Olivia. "I just want to have a look at the table you bumped your cheek on to compare the edge to the cut on your cheek," she told Alex while she surreptitiously slipped a thin tube of Dermabond into her pocket. "Olivia, could you show me where it is?"

"Sure." Olivia smiled her thanks. "Alex, just sit tight and we'll be back in a few."

"Okay," Alex leaned back into the couch and closed her eye.

"It's this way." Olivia nodded indicatively as she turned and led the way down the hall toward Alex's bedroom.

Melinda followed at a respectable distance and noticed the door to Alex's guestroom was open and the bed still made. She filed the information away as she crossed the threshold into Alex's room and closed the door behind herself. "So, how long have you two been a couple?" she smiled as she pulled the bandage off and carefully cleaned the area with an alcohol wipe she'd palmed.

"Friday." Olivia blushed. "How did you know?"

Melinda chuckled and tilted her head toward the guest room. "Spare bed is made and the one in here has two rumpled pillows," she reported her observations as she cracked the tube of Dermabond and moved to apply it to Olivia's shoulder. "And," she hiked her brows teasingly, "you've got quite a hickey on your collarbone here," she used her pinky finger to indicate the spot on the brunette's left side. "Probably want to cover that up for court."

"Oh god," Olivia groaned.

Melinda nodded thoughtfully as she finished applying the skin glue and blew softly onto it to help it dry. "It's not that bad," she reassured the embarrassed brunette as she carefully placed a new bandage over the wound. "Keep this dry for a few hours, you can shower this afternoon if you really want to," she instructed. "I tried to keep the Dermabond away from the stitches, so it shouldn't be too hard to pull those when it's time."

"Thanks doc." Olivia smiled.

"My pleasure," Melinda said with a smile as she opened the door and motioned for Olivia to lead the way. "You know you can always call me if you need anything."

"I know. And I really do appreciate it," Olivia said as she led the way back down the hall toward the living room, Alex's blonde tresses easily visible above the back of the couch.

"So, what did you think?" Alex asked without turning around.

"About what?" Melinda asked.

"The nightstand?" Alex turned around to focus her one good eye on the doctor.

"Oh, right." Melinda nodded. "Yeah, it looks like a match. No chips in the surface so I don't think you need to worry about splinters or debris in your cut, you should be fine," she lied smoothly.

"Okay. Thank you for coming out to check on me this morning," Alex told the Medical Examiner gratefully. "I really do appreciate it."

"Alex, honey-" Melinda smiled "-you're family and we take care of family."

"Really?"

"Really," Melinda assured her. "Now, go easy on Olivia – she's still wounded and shouldn't be moving that arm," she lectured good naturedly.

"Oh god," Olivia groaned.

"What?" Alex asked.

Melinda smiled and shook her head. "Just, take a break from the amorous behaviors for a few days and let your bodies heal."

Alex stared. "How did you…"

"Detective Benson is sporting quite an impressive hickey," Melinda laughed. "And it looks fresh."

"Oh god," Alex groaned.

"I'm happy for you two," Melinda assured them. "Really. You've both been pining away after the other for too long now; it's nice to see that you've finally figured it out. And, you can trust me to keep this quiet," she wagged a finger between the two blushing women. "I'll let you two share the good news when you're ready."

"Thank you," Alex sighed.

"My pleasure," the doctor assured the blushing attorney. "Now, as my work here is done – I guess I shall head down to the office and get working on the piles of paperwork that our insanely demanding ADA will undoubtedly be asking for as soon as she returns to work next week," she winked at Alex. "Rest up, we miss you already."

…

"How are you feeling?" Olivia asked softly as she returned to the living room after seeing Melinda out. "Has your Tylenol kicked in?"

Alex nodded. "I'm actually feeling sleepy."

Olivia nodded understandingly and quickly moved to help Alex stand. "C'mon, let's go back to bed and try to rest for a bit."

"You sure?" Alex asked. "You sound like you're wide awake," she observed.

"I am," Olivia agreed. "But I like holding you close. Let's go back to bed and cuddle."

"Okay," Alex agreed easily, she really was feeling the effects of her pain medications.

"Good," Olivia twined their fingers together and led the way down the hall. "Here ya go," she carefully helped Alex back onto the bed before scurrying around to her side and climbing in. "Now, come over here and let me hold you," she smiled.

"I love you Liv," Alex murmured as she moved over into the brunette's arms and snuggled in close.

"Love you too Lex," Olivia whispered, pressing a soft kiss to Alex's forehead as the blonde fell asleep easily.

+++/+++\+++

It was nearly ten by the time the sunlight streaming down the hall and cascading through the open doorway from the open windows in the living room fell across Alex's face and roused her from her slumber. She could hear the steady rhythmic beat of Olivia's heart under her ear and she snuggled herself that much closer to the sleeping woman, burying her head in the crook of the brunette's neck and breathing deep the intoxicating scent that was purely Olivia.

"Hey you," Olivia's gentle voice surprised her.

Alex smiled and tilted her head to press a soft kiss to the underside of the brunette's strong jaw. "Did I wake you?"

"Mmhmm," Olivia said through a yawn. "But it's okay, I didn't mean to nod off in the first place. How are you feeling?"

Alex tucked her head back down and sighed. "Better. My cheek is throbbing again though."

Olivia turned her head and stole a quick glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand. "Well, it's been six hours since your last dose, you want me to go get you another pill?"

"I can do it," Alex mumbled. "I just want some Tylenol."

"I can get it. You just sit tight," Olivia instructed as she slid out from under Alex's arm. Melinda had warned her to keep Alex as still as possible for the day in case the fall had reaggravated Alex's concussion, and she figured the longer she could keep the stubborn blonde in bed the better. "I need to use the restroom anyways. You want me to bring back something to snack on?"

"Sure," Alex agreed, too easily in Olivia's opinion. "Thanks Liv."

"No thanks necessary," Olivia assured her. "I'll be back in a couple, just close your eyes and rest a bit more while I'm gone."

"M'kay," Alex yawned and snuggled back down under the duvet.

Olivia nodded to herself as she left the room quietly and headed into the kitchen where she quickly filled a glass with water from the tap and downed her own pain pills before refilling the vessel and pocketing Alex's bottle of Tylenol. A quick look through the pantry yielded the bag of leftover donuts from their 'party' which she grabbed along with the roll of paper towels off the counter before heading back to where Alex was laying.

"Find everything okay?" Alex mumbled, turning on her side and propping herself up on her elbow so she could look at Olivia. Her injured cheek had swollen her eye shut again.

"Yup." Olivia smiled. "Even found the bag of leftover donuts in your pantry," she held the bag up indicatively.

"Thank god for Abigail Carmichael," Alex chuckled.

"Amen," Olivia agreed as she dropped the bag into the middle of the bed and handed Alex the glass of water and her pill bottle. "Take these first and then eat."

"Yes mom," Alex grumbled as she shook a couple pills into her palm and tossed them back with a generous drink of water.

Olivia just smiled as she walked around the bed and climbed in under the covers next to Alex. She pulled the duvet up to her chest and tore off a paper towel before she reached into the bag and pulled out a Boston Cream donut as she watched Alex take a rather large bite out of her own pastry.

"So," Alex mumbled around a mouthful of Boston Cream. "Do you still want me to tell you about the dream?"

Olivia looked over at the blonde with surprise written clearly on her face. She'd figured Alex would try and ignore what had happened. "If you want to," she offered carefully.

"I was dreaming I was back in the alley," Alex mumbled, focusing on her donut. "I was fighting to get free so I could go back and help you. I guess that's when you tried to wake me up and I socked you."

Olivia nodded. "I figured as much. You know," she started carefully, "you've never told me what happened that night," she murmured, allowing her observation to stand as a question.

"I know," Alex said as she took another bite of her donut.

Olivia watched silently as the blonde chewed thoughtfully.

Alex swallowed and nodded to herself. "I've never been so scared in my life Liv," she confessed, biting her lip as she fought to control her emotions. "I wasn't strong enough to fight him off."

"Oh baby," Olivia murmured, her heart clenching at the obvious fear and pain in Alex's voice. "I know. I was scared too when all I could do was watch him drag you off. I waved Elliot on, told him to leave me where I was so he could get to you faster," she set her breakfast down and reached over to grab Alex's hand.

Alex looked down at their joined hands and nodded. "I'm so thankful he got there when he did," she murmured as she twined their fingers together and then grasped their joined hands with her free hand. She drew a deep breath before continuing, "So, do you really want to know everything?"

"Alex-" Olivia lifted their joined hands to kiss the back of the blonde's knuckles tenderly "-I will always want to know everything about you. Do you want to talk about it?"

Alex looked over at her concerned lover and nodded. "I think I do," she murmured.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you," Olivia whispered as she pulled Alex in closer after the blonde had finished recounting her attack. "I should have drawn my weapon faster, he should have never gotten that close to you," she continued to apologize.

"Liv," Alex admonished. "Please. I didn't tell you what happened to make you feel guilty, I just needed to share. I'm sure you've heard worse, hell," she squeezed the brunette for emphasis, "he didn't even rape me. So I know you've heard worse."

Olivia shook her head. "It's different when it's somebody you love," she murmured. "I'm so thankful that you're going to be okay Alex."

"Me too," Alex agreed. "So, now that we've gotten the pity party out of the way – what do you want to do today?"

"How about if we just lay on the couch and watch a movie?" Olivia suggested. "I'd say lay in bed and watch a movie, but for some bizarre reason you don't have a television in here."

"It's not a bizarre reason." Alex smirked. "It's a perfectly logical reason."

"Well then, enlighten me Counselor," Olivia retorted with a smile, pleased to see Alex's mood improving.

"Beds aren't for lounging in and watching television," Alex murmured as she leaned in and kissed Olivia softly. "Beds," she kissed the smiling brunette again, "are for sleeping. Or-" she smirked and ran her tongue over Olivia's lower lip, "-other much more fun activities that if done properly lead to exhaustion and sleep."

Olivia smiled. "I see."

"Do you?" Alex teased, running the pad of her index finger over the brunette's lips.

Olivia opened her lips and captured the digit, sucking it playfully deeper into her mouth which caused Alex to moan appreciatively. "Yes," she said with a smile as she released the captured finger. "It's a shame the doctor said we need to take it easy for a few days."

"Since when do you listen to doctors?" Alex pouted as she watched Olivia climb out of the bed.

"Since she has **_your_** best interests at heart," Olivia answered honestly as she gathered the remnants of their breakfast in bed. "C'mon hot stuff, race ya to the couch. First one there gets to choose the movie."

"Alright, alright," Alex grumbled as she threw the covers back and carefully set her feet on the floor. "But, just so you know, when I'm feeling better I'm planning on taking advantage of you again."

"Oh, I'm counting on that Counselor," Olivia chuckled as she watched Alex carefully get to her feet. "You okay? Dizzy?"

Alex shifted her weight from side to side. "Nope. I'm good."

Olivia nodded. "Good. Then it looks like you didn't reaggravate your concussion."

"So does that mean we can play later?" Alex smiled hopefully.

Olivia shook her head and laughed. "You are incorrigible," she chided.

"I think you mean insatiable," Alex corrected her with a smirk.

"That too," Olivia agreed. "Now, please go sit on the couch and stop trying my self control? I'm only human and you look too good to not eat," she smirked.

"Ooooookay," Alex laughed. "I get it. Later."

"Later." Olivia leaned in and kissed Alex tenderly. "When we're both feeling a little better," she assured her.


	14. Chapter 14

**_…_**

**_Part 14_**

The buzzing of her cell phone against her leg woke Olivia from what was an extremely pleasant dream, so it was a rather upset, "Benson!" that greeted Elliot's ears when he was finally freed from the hell that was Olivia's ringback tone – _Man I Feel Like a Woman_.

"Why the hell do I have to listen to that song when I call you?" Elliot groused, deciding to ignore his partner's mood and skip to the most important matter at hand … his emasculation.

"Wha…" Olivia mumbled.

"I have to listen to that damn Shania Twain song when I call you now too? It's not bad enough that it's my personal embarrassing ringtone whenever I call you?"

"El, Abbie must've changed it when she was here. I swear," she added when he started to protest. "I'm too damned cheap to spend an extra buck on you like that. Now, as I was sleeping and having a really good dream and you calling woke me up – this better be good. What's up?"

"Who was in this really good dream?" Elliot teased.

"Alex," Olivia replied before she could think her answer through. "Shit. Never mind. Forget I said that. What do you need?" she asked, shifting slightly under Alex's sleeping form as she glanced at the television to see that Oprah had ended (thank god because, seriously, who the hell needs to know what the inside of their stomach looks like anyways?) and it was now time for the evening news.

"I need to know what Ms. Cabot was doing in your dream," Elliot laughed.

Olivia smiled. "Nothing I'm going to tell you about. You know I don't kiss and tell," she said, before realizing that that comment, too, was going to land her in a world full of hurt.

"Oooo," Elliot sang. "So it was one of **_those_** kinds of dreams huh? Tell me, tell me!"

"Elliot," Olivia groaned. "No! You're being ridiculous."

"I'm not," he argued. "I'm married. I have to live vicariously through you, Kathy's cut me off until I go and get fixed!"

"Good girl Kathy," Olivia said. "Just go get the surgery El, what's the big deal?"

"I don't want a doctor poking around down there, do you have any idea how embarrassing that would be?"

"Um, yes – yes I do." Olivia nodded. "What the hell do you think happens at a gynie appointment El? Did you think the stirrups were just there to add to the kink of the place?"

"I prefer to think that, yes," Elliot grumbled. "Fine, forget it. Leave me to suffer alone with my magazines."

"El, I know Kathy doesn't let you have those magazines," Olivia told him with a laugh.

"You suck Liv," Elliot retorted childishly. "I was calling to see if you girls would like me to bring by some dinner for you as I'm on my way home now. But, I'm starting to think that a little starvation might make you play nicer with me so I'll just leave you two to suffer."

"You kidding?" Olivia laughed. "I'm with Alex, there is plenty to eat."

Alex, who had woken up somewhere around the stirrups discussion decided that Olivia's last comment was a little too much and slapped the surprised brunette's leg playfully as Elliot's boisterous laughter rang out of the handset still clasped in the detective's hand.

Realizing what she'd said, Olivia had the grace to blush profusely before mouthing _"Sorry"_ to Alex and raising her voice to yell into her phone, "Shut it El, you know that's not what I meant! I meant that Alex can actually cook!"

"Yeah right," Alex drawled with a smile as she lifted Olivia's shirt and began tracing delicate circles onto toned tan abs with her tongue.

"God," Olivia breathed appreciatively when Alex nipped gently at a protruding hip bone.

"No! No religion!" Elliot screamed like a little girl.

"Grow up El," Olivia half scolded, half moaned as Alex's tongue began trailing lower until the blonde's teeth clasped the waistband of her shorts and began to tug them downward. "Christ, Alex," she breathed as she covered the mouthpiece of her phone with her left hand, her hips bucking slightly as the blonde's chin brushed roughly over her mound.

"I'll be there in thirty minutes with four bags of Chinese, Munch and Fin," Elliot said with a laugh. "Don't spend too much time at church, I'd hate to interrupt you two. Our esteemed colleagues, on the other hand, would love to watch so take your pick."

"M'kay," Olivia moaned her vague agreement, not really paying attention to Elliot's last comment, as she disconnected the call and tossed her cell over onto the nearby armchair. She'd gotten the thirty minutes part and knew there was something about food and the guys, but she really couldn't bring herself to care too terribly much about such mundane things when Alex's wickedly skillful tongue was busy doing what it was doing.

"Hi." Alex looked up and smiled as she took a moment to observe the woman she'd been busy undressing. "How are you?"

"Alex," Olivia groaned, biting her lip adorably as she fought to keep her hips from lifting traitorously into the blonde's touch. "I think you know the answer to that question Counselor."

Alex smirked as she moved lower and nuzzled the brunette's center, wincing slightly as Olivia's shorts brushed her cheek but ignored the small discomfort in deference to focusing her attention on breathing deep the heady aroma of Olivia's arousal. "I do believe you're correct in that assumption Detective," she purred. "What was I doing in your dream Liv?"

"Oooooh," Olivia gasped as Alex's fingers began tugging gently at her shorts. "How long were you awake?"

"You were saying something about stirrups," Alex replied, frowning slightly when Olivia refused to lift her hips and allow her to remove the shorts she'd been slowly working at. "What?" she asked, giving up on the small battle over Olivia's shorts to sit up and see the brunette's eyes better. "Liv, what's wrong?"

"Alex, baby-" Olivia ran a tentative finger around the perplexed blonde's jaw "-how are you feeling?"

"Fine." Alex shrugged. "Why?"

"You can see out of both eyes okay?" Olivia pressed, not wanting to scare the playful woman who was offering to bring her to the gates of ecstasy and beyond but needing to double check.

"Yes." Alex's brow furrowed as she sat up between Olivia's legs and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, not so much out of my left but it feels like it's swollen shut again. Why? What is it Liv?"

Olivia pursed her lips thoughtfully as she ran a reassuring hand down the length of Alex's right triceps before answering. "You're bleeding again," she murmured.

"Ah shit," Alex groaned as she lifted her fingers to her cheek tentatively. "Must have opened it up when I brushed against your shorts, how bad is it?"

"Eh," Olivia hedged. "Not as bad as this morning, but I'm thinking you're going to want to see a doctor about it."

"You think?" Alex frowned as she pulled her fingers away from her battered face to observe the crimson tint on her fingertips.

Olivia nodded. "Yeah. I do."

"This sucks," Alex grumbled as she pushed herself up off of Olivia and walked around the back of the couch to where her cell was sitting on the console table. Olivia watched as one blue eye focused on the tiny screen, narrowing slightly in concentration as Alex scanned through her contacts list. "Here we go," Alex mumbled as she lifted the phone to her ear.

"You calling Maggie?" Olivia asked softly.

Alex shook her head no. "Her brother, my Uncle Matt. He's a plastic surgeon – if I have to get stitches on this thing I want to make sure there won't be a scar," she explained as she waited for her uncle to pick up on the other end.

"Yeah, because everybody has a plastic surgeon in their phonebook," Olivia mumbled, once again realizing how completely different her and Alex's worlds really were.

She was thankfully ripped from her reverie by Alex's soothing alto. "Uncle Matt, it's Alex. … Yes, I figured that Maggie would have told you what had happened. … Yes. … I know I could have called you, but there was nothing you could have done then. … Yes, I mean then. … Do you feel up to a house call Matt? … I kind of fell out of bed and bumped my cheek on the nightstand. … It wasn't on purpose! … I don't want to tell you what happened. … Because it's embarrassing. … No, it wasn't crazy wild monkey sex – you really need to stop hanging out with your sister. … I don't care if she's your twin, it's getting obscene. Look, will you come over and sew me up? I really don't want a scar. … Great, thank you Uncle Matt. See you in half an hour or so, I'll call down to the desk and let them know that you're coming. … Thanks again, see you soon. Bye."

Olivia arched a brow questioningly as she watched Alex toss her Blackberry back down onto the table. "Crazy wild monkey sex? Sounds fun."

Alex pursed her lips thoughtfully before replying with a smirk, "It would have been. Too bad you made me stop what I was doing earlier."

"Not fair," Olivia groaned. "You're bleeding! Do you really expect me to ignore that for an orgasm?"

"First of all-" Alex pointed her finger at the now standing brunette on the opposite side of the couch "-it would have been more than one orgasm – you were looking at three, minimum, before I was going to let you up. And, two…" her voice trailed off as her one good eye glazed over.

"Alex," Olivia murmured. "You okay?"

"Huh? Yeah," Alex shook her head slightly in an attempt to clear it. "Where was I?"

"Two," Olivia offered helpfully.

"Right," Alex nodded, her brow furrowing in concentration as she tried to regain her earlier train of thought. "Two … two … two … Hell, I don't know – I got distracted by the mental image of the way you'd look after that third orgasm."

Olivia smiled. "While that does sound fun, I care more about you getting healthy. Elliot said something about him and the guys swinging by with dinner – you okay with that?"

"Yeah, sure." Alex shrugged. "I'd kinda figured that Fin and Munch would be swinging by to say hello sometime soon. They'll be able to keep you company while Matt is fixing me up."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, why not?" Alex smiled. "I'd like to see the guys too, it was nice – but weird – to spend the day lounging around watching movies and stuff and not doing paperwork and yelling at you guys."

"Heh," Olivia chuckled. "Yeah, I'm sure they missed you and your demands too Alex."

+++/+++\+++

"Hey Elliot," Alex smiled as she opened the front door all the way and stepped back to allow the burly detective inside. "Thanks so much for offering to bring us dinner, I really appreciate it."

"No problem." Elliot studied the blonde. "What happened to your face?"

"Gee, what a way to boost a girl's ego there Stabler," Alex retorted. "I bumped it on the nightstand when I fell out of bed. Flashback," she explained with a shrug.

"I see," Elliot drawled. "You know you're bleeding, right?"

"Yeah," Alex groaned. "My Uncle Matt is coming to sew me back up. He should be here any minute. Where are Munch and Fin?"

"They're coming, Dad wanted to have a 'talk' with them about something so I came on ahead to make sure you two were behaving yourselves."

By this time they had meandered into the living room and they could see Olivia busying herself in the dining room setting out one plate at a time around the table.

"How's Liv?" Elliot asked.

"She seems to be doing better," Alex said. "I'm not a doctor so I don't really know, but she isn't wincing as much when she moves around and she actually managed to get a bra on tonight."

"Too much information Counselor," Elliot laughed. "But, I'm glad to hear she's doing okay."

They were interrupted by another knock at the door so Alex shooed Elliot off to the dining room to help Olivia while she padded back down the hall to answer the door. A quick glance through the peep-hole showed a distinguished mid fifty year old man with dark brown hair graying at his temples in a polo shirt and slacks with a bag hanging off his shoulder checking his watch and shuffling from side to side.

"Thanks for coming Uncle Matt." Alex smiled as she threw open the door and pulled her favorite Uncle into a one-armed hug.

"Alex, you know I'm always willing to help," he said sincerely. "Now, where are we gonna fix you up, kiddo?"

"Bathroom," Alex answered with a shrug. "Best light for this kind of thing, I'd imagine."

"You're probably right," he agreed.

+++/+++\+++

"So," Elliot glanced up at Olivia as he pulled take-out cartons out of plastic bags and arranged them in the center of the table. "How you two doing?"

"Hmm?" Olivia looked up. "Oh, fine. Why?"

"Alex said she had a flashback."

Olivia nodded thoughtfully. "It was pretty bad. She ended up smacking me in the shoulder and popping a couple stitches as she was flailing around."

"She said she fell out of bed?"

"Yeah, right after she nailed me," Olivia said, grimacing as she waved toward her injured shoulder.

+++/+++\+++

"So what's your friend's name?" Matt asked as he fastened his headgear on with the little light and magnifying glasses. "I'm assuming she's who you're not having crazy wild monkey sex with?"

"We're too injured for crazy wild monkey sex," Alex grumbled good naturedly.

"Maggie seems to like her," he reported as he carefully injected Alex's cheek with a local anesthetic. "Said she was perfectly protective of you and that the girl can handle the Cabot sense of humor."

"She survived Maggie and Abbie on a tag-team," Alex murmured, being careful to sit still while her uncle readied his materials. "She's definitely the first one to ever do that."

Matt smirked as he held up a needle and super-thin dissolving thread. "So, is she 'the one' then?"

"She is for me," Alex answered, as a ridiculously sappy smile tweaked her lips.

+++/+++\+++

"What were you two up to today with no Abbie here to throw wild _thank god you finally fucked_ parties?" Elliot asked as he settled himself into an overstuffed armchair cattycorner to the couch Olivia had claimed.

"Watched movies," Olivia answered. "Napped. I don't think I slept so much in the three weeks before all this as I have these last few days."

"Sleep is good," Elliot agreed. "Helps the body heal. When do you think the doc will release you back for desk duty at least?"

"I'm hoping next week," Olivia said as she rolled her head from side to side. "Laying about all day is one thing when Alex is here to keep me company, but I know I'll go stir crazy if I'm stuck home alone once she returns to work next week."

"She serious about this?" Elliot asked tentatively.

"I know I am," Olivia said. "We talked and she's not adverse to the idea of telling people – I was actually more hesitant than she was, so I'm thinking she is… yeah."

"Wow."

"I know." Olivia nodded thoughtfully. "Who'd've thought?"

"Not me," Elliot retorted with a grin. "I'm happy for ya partner. Are you going to tell the guys?"

"We actually didn't talk about it. I'm sure they'll figure it out – you know I suck at hiding when I'm happy."

"You do," Elliot agreed with a small laugh. "And you definitely sounded 'happy' on the phone earlier."

"Yeah," Olivia groaned. "Until I saw that she'd split her cheek again and was bleeding. That's kind of a mood-kill."

"I can imagine." Elliot pursed his lips thoughtfully. He looked about ready to ask something else when the doorbell rang. "Sit tight Liv, I'm sure that's the guys – I'll get it."

"Thanks El." Olivia smiled gratefully as she leaned back into the couch.

+++/+++\+++

"So what are you going to do about work then?" Matt asked softly as he concentrated on tying off his last suture. "What will Branch think of this?"

"Honestly," Alex sighed. "I don't know. There's nothing in the general conduct policy that strictly prohibits an ADA and a detective from being in a relationship, but I'm sure that if we're not careful it could come back and bite me, us, in the butt. Right now I'm hoping that by keeping things professional at work we'll avoid most of the negative fall-out. It'll probably help to be somewhat discreet in public, but I'm not going to hide this – I figure so long as we behave like mature adults when the world is watching we'll be fine."

"I hope you're right honey." Matt ruffled his niece's hair playfully. "You know we love you, right?"

"Of course I do Uncle Matt." Alex beamed as she stood and wrapped her arms around her uncle. "Thank you for doing this," she said as she waved toward her now perfectly sutured cheek. "No scar, right?"

"There shouldn't be," he confirmed as he began placing his materials back into his bag. "A little vitamin E lotion wouldn't hurt either though."

"Can you stay for dinner?" Alex asked as she led the way back down the hall toward the living room. "I'd love for you to really meet Liv."

Matt Cabot smiled. "Of course, I'd love to meet the woman who's finally managed to get you to settle down."

"Uncle Matt," Alex groaned. "Please, we all know that I'm not the playboy of the Cabot Clan."

"Yeah … that title belongs to your brother." Matt chuckled. "How is Adam doing, anyways?"

"Last I heard he was living the high life up in P-town," Alex reported. "No boyfriend yet, but we'll see – thanksgiving is right around the corner and he always has a colorful companion to share the festivities with."

"You going to bring Olivia up to the house this year?"

Alex smiled wistfully as she imagined spending the holiday with Olivia and her family. "I'd like to."

Matt laughed as he dropped his bag off inside the foyer. "You got it bad Alex."

+++/+++\+++

"Hey! There she is!" Fin's voice greeted Alex and Matt as they made their way into the living room where the entire SVU squad, save Cragen, was assembled. "Nice shiner Cabot – we need to get a picture of that and get you entered into the best bruise contest!"

"Best bruise contest?" Alex repeated as she perched herself daintily onto the arm of the couch next to Olivia. "What's that?"

"Boys being boys," Olivia shrugged. "We take pics of our bruises and whoever the judges decide had the best one wins dinner out on the squad."

"I see," Alex smiled. "You think I have a chance?"

"I'd say you're chances are pretty good at this point," John Munch smiled. "So far the winning bruise is Elliot's from when that crazy woman whacked him in the leg with a two-by-four. But, yours has a lot nicer color variation," he observed. "They greens and yellows are quite impressive."

"Well, who's going to take the picture then?" Alex smirked. "You know I do love to win."

"That we do counselor," Fin grinned as he pulled out his phone. "Say cheese!" he laughed as he framed Alex's bruise up before snapping the picture. "But, enough chit chat, I'm starving – where's that dinner you promised us Stabler?" he asked as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.

"Oh," Fin yelled as the group sat around the table after they'd finished eating. "I forgot – we all chipped in and got you gals some get-well presents."

Olivia frowned, clearly concerned about what they guys had done. "You did?"

Much nodded as he got up from the table and disappeared into the living room. When he returned he had two identically wrapped packages which he handed to each of the women at the table. "For you," he said with bow.

"Thank you." Alex smiled, looking genuinely pleased with the fact that the boys had thought to get her anything at all.

"Our pleasure," Fin assured the suddenly shy blonde. "Really Alex."

"Please tell me it's not porn," Olivia groaned as she played with the packaged Munch had handed her.

"It's not porn," Elliot answered with a grin. "I made them promise."

"Too bad," Alex smirked as she tore into her present, completely oblivious to the slack jawed stares she was receiving from Munch and Fin as well as the blush that was tinting Olivia and Elliot's cheeks.

Matt Cabot, used to such outbursts, just laughed openly. "I take it you lot aren't used to the cruder side of Alexandra Cabot," he chuckled.

"No," Fin replied. "And, I gotta say, I'm damn disappointed that I'm only meeting her now!"

"Aww, Legally Blonde," Alex drawled as she held up her gift. "I love it, thank you guys!"

"Thought you could use the laugh," Munch shrugged.

"She can put it on the shelf with her other three copies of it," Olivia grimaced, the pain of having to sit through Elle Woods fresh in her mind after watching it earlier that day.

"Shhhh." Alex scowled playfully at Olivia. "You can never have too much Elle Woods."

"Yes… yes, you can," Olivia and Matt groaned.

"Shut up," Alex laughed. "What's your movie?"

"A Few Good Men?" Olivia answered, her voice rising at the end questioningly. "Why?"

"You can't handle the truth!" Fin laughed.

"That's not an answer," Olivia frowned.

"Too bad." He grinned. "That's the only one you're getting right now," he tilted his head toward Alex, obviously indicating that he didn't want to embarrass her in front of the blonde.

"It's because of my glaringly obvious thing for lawyers, isn't it?"

Fin stared, disbelieving that Olivia was daring to _go there_ with Cabot sitting right next to her. "Uh-huh."

"You have a thing for Demi Moore?" Alex turned to Olivia.

"Not that lawyer." Olivia grinned as she squeezed the blonde's thigh playfully.

Alex's look of confusion morphed into one of sheer delight. "She too dark for you, detective?"

"Yeah." Olivia nodded. "I like my lawyers a lot more blonde. Glasses drive me wild too."

Fin leaned over and mock whispered in Elliot's ear. "Have we entered the twilight zone?"

"I forgot about the glasses," Alex mused. "Once the swelling goes down I'll have to start wearing those again."

"The black ones?"

"If you'd prefer." Alex nodded demurely.

"I think we have." Munch cocked his head thoughtfully as he watched the playful banter between Olivia and Alex.

"Oh, I definitely prefer," Olivia murmured, licking her lips appreciatively.

"What the hell?" Fin gaped, his eyes flicking back and forth between Alex and Olivia as if he were watching a tennis match.

"Ask them about the balloons," Matt said with a laugh.

"I was wondering about those." Fin nodded. "What's up with the balloons Cabot? Red and black doesn't seem like your color scheme at all."

Alex glared at her uncle. "You suck."

"Hey – just because Maggie isn't here doesn't mean that you get to escape the obligatory Cabot teasing."

"Just be happy you weren't here for the donuts," Elliot told the group.

"What donuts?" Fin and Much asked simultaneously.

"Oh god," Olivia groaned.

"Religion!" Elliot yelled, slapping his hands over his ears.

Alex blushed and stared the laughing detective down, her tirade interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone in the other room. "Elliot – you're lucky you hooked me up in the hospital buddy. And, you are officially saved by the bell," she pointed at him with a smile as she left the room to answer her phone.

She found her phone on the console table where she'd dropped it earlier and answered with a brusque "Cabot" not bothering to check the caller ID.

"_How are you feeling Alex?"_ Serena's voice answered her.

"Eh." Alex shrugged as she plopped down onto the couch and propped her sock-clad feet up on the coffee table. "Surviving. Uncle Matt and the SVU guys are all here for dinner, I think this is karma's way of getting back at me for exposing Olivia to Maggie and Abbie. How's the case?"

"_Good,"_ Serena answered with a laugh. _"Got everything into evidence today and Brennan has scheduled jury selection for eight tomorrow morning – should be done by four or so. Do you girls want me to come up to your place or would you like an excuse for an outing and come down to Hogan to do it at my office?"_

"I'd kill to get out of the house for a bit," Alex sighed. "How about if we come to you?"

"_No problem. I'll tell Shannon to let you guys into my office if I'm not back by the time you get there."_

"Any surprised with the evidentiary discoveries or disclosures?"

"_No, Counselor,"_ Serena laughed. _"The usual. Trevor has some tech guy scheduled to go over some film from the club's security cameras, but that's about it."_

"Have you seen the tape?" Alex asked.

"_Yeah, you two looked good dancing together," _Serena said, her voice softening. _"There's nothing beyond PG on that tape Alex, you two are fine. Don't worry about Trevor, I won't let him do anything sleazy to you guys."_

"Thanks Serena," Alex smiled and closed her eyes as a wave of relief passed through her. "We'll see you tomorrow at four then. If it looks like you'll wrap up earlier, just give me a call or something and we can come down whenever… this being housebound sucks."

"_I hear ya,"_ Serena assured her friend. _"I'll see you two tomorrow, okay?"_

"Absolutely." Alex nodded to herself. "Bye Serena, say hi to Abbie for me."

"_Will do. Talk soon Alex. Bye."_

Alex smiled softly to herself as she ran a hand through her hair and slid her phone into the back pocket of her jeans. She wasn't particularly looking forward to testifying, but she was beyond anxious to put the sleaze-ball away for good.

"Everything okay?" Olivia leaned in and murmured in Alex's ear once the blonde had rejoined the penis party.

Alex smiled and placed a reassuring hand on Olivia's thigh. "It was Serena. I told her we'd meet her at her office tomorrow afternoon after jury selection to go over everything."

"Sounds good."

"So, Cabot – now that you and Liv have finally figured out the obvious, are you ready for the big brother speech?" Fin's voice interrupted their conversation.

"Already gave it to the both of 'em," Elliot chuffed with a grin. "We're cool, aren't we girls?" he pretended to scowl authoritatively at the blushing couple.

"Oh god," Alex and Olivia groaned together.

"Do we get to observe this new religion you two have found?" Fin laughed.

"No!" Olivia held her hand up and glared impressively at her laughing squad mate.

"Damn," Fin, Munch and Elliot grumbled playfully.

"Are you three for real? What's the draw?" Alex asked, genuinely interested in their response.

"You two, together," Fin waved an indicative hand between them. "Smokin'."

"You're sick," Olivia threw a wadded up napkin across the table.

"Yeah," Fin agreed. "But, it's just because we love you."

Matt Cabot cleared his throat as he glanced at his watch. "I gotta get going Alex, honey. Jenny is expecting me home soon – her parents are coming over for dinner."

Alex looked over at her uncle. " I'm sorry. You didn't have to stay for dinner here."

"Please. Take-out is so much better than Jenny's cooking. Don't tell her I said that, by the way," he said as he poked the blonde's shoulder playfully. "Think about what we'd talked about earlier, you know how your mother is about getting numbers settled early."

"Yeah." Alex bit her lip thoughtfully as she stood to see her uncle out. "We'll see what happens – I figure I have a couple more weeks to test the waters for that one."

"Take care Alex," Matt kissed his niece's forehead softly. "Rest up. Call me if you need anything, you hear me kiddo?"

"I got it Matt," Alex assured him with a smile. "Thank you."

"We should get going too," Munch's voice interrupted them. "Dad just called – we gotta head down to a scene. Thanks for having us over for dinner Alex, it was nice to see you alive and well. We were worried about you."

"Aww, thanks John." Alex smiled as she let herself be enveloped in the wiry detective's embrace. "It was nice to see you guys too. Thanks for coming over. And thank you, too, for my movie – I love it."

Fin gathered the surprised blonde in his arms as soon as his partner released her. "Thanks for having us over, sweetie. Feel better soon and don't be afraid to call us if you need anything."

Alex smiled and nodded. "I will. Thank you."

Fin, Munch and Matt made their way out as a group and Alex returned to find Olivia chatting amiably with her partner as he busied himself with clearing the table.

"You don't have to do that Elliot," Alex said as she hurried into the room and began gathering empty cartons.

"Psssht," Elliot shushed her. "Like it's hard to gather this junk and throw it away. Why don't you go sit down in the living room and I'll just finish this up here before I head on out too. Kathy wanted to go see that new Katherine Heigel movie tonight and the sitter will be at the house soon."

"Are you sure El?" Olivia frowned.

"About clearing this mess, yeah," Elliot laughed. "About the movie – not really, but it'll make Kathy happy so it's worth it."

Alex smiled. "You're a good man, Elliot Stabler."

"Now you're just embarrassing me," Elliot chuckled as he shoved the last carton into a plastic bag.

"Thanks for bringing dinner over buddy," Olivia said. "It was nice to see you and the guys."

"Our pleasure," Elliot assured her. "Now, which one of you is going to lock up after me?"

"I will," Olivia answered immediately, gently steering Alex toward the living room couch that they'd wasted the day on. "I'll be right back," she smiled at Alex. "Why don't you find something good on TV and we can veg for a bit before bed."

"You got it." Alex pecked the brunette on the cheek quickly. "Thanks Elliot," she said as she waved goodbye to the detective. "We'll be at Hogan tomorrow afternoon if you guys need us for anything."

Elliot smiled. "We shouldn't, but it's nice to know just in case," he continued as he watched Alex settle herself onto the cream-colored couch and flip the television on.

"Oooh, Jeopardy!" Alex exclaimed happily.

Elliot nudged Olivia playfully. "Fun."

"It'll be an experience, I'm sure," Olivia whispered. "Probably as much as your movie with the wife," she laughed.

"The things we do for the women we love," Elliot groaned.

"Amen." Olivia smiled and chucked her partner on the shoulder. "Amen."


	15. Chapter 15

...

**_Part 15_**

The next morning Alex awoke to the pleasant sensation of fingers stroking feather light up and down her spine. She smiled softly against the gentle slope of Olivia's breast, her new favorite pillow, and stretched languorously, arching with a quiet contented mewl into her lover's side as muscles stiff from sleeping in the same position for too long protested their sudden movement with a dull ache.

"Morning," Olivia's quiet voice shattered the stillness of the room. "How did you sleep?"

"Mmm," Alex purred. "Amazingly well, thank you. I don't know if it's the drugs or the fact that you're here, but I have slept better these last three nights than I have in longer than I can remember."

Olivia smiled and pressed her lips to the wild array of blonde silk that was nestled under her chin. "I know what you mean," she murmured quietly, her hand never faltering from its slow track up and down Alex's back. "I usually wake up a couple times and never sleep for more than six hours tops. But," her hand veered off course to grasp the blonde's hip and pull her in closer, "I know it's you – because even pain meds don't make me sleep so soundly."

Alex smiled softly and dropped a quick kiss to Olivia's breast. "This is so surreal," she observed quietly, her left hand sliding knowingly up Olivia's muscled torso to slowly trace the circumference of the brunette's right breast.

"In what way?"

"Well," Alex paused to gather her thoughts. "Not even a week ago this," she palmed the breast she'd been slowly spiraling for emphasis, "was only something I would have fantasized about. And now … do you feel like we're moving too fast?"

Olivia blinked in surprise. "Too fast? Alex, look at me," she slid her hand up the blonde's ribs to tug gently at the juncture where her arm and torso met.

Alex acquiesced and propped herself up on her elbow so Olivia could see her face.

"Do you think this is too fast?" Olivia asked hesitantly.

"Not at all," Alex answered honestly. "But, that in itself is strange because we've never even been on a date and now we're sleeping together, in every possible definition of the word, our friends all know about us, and this … being with you like this feels so natural that it's just … surreal."

Olivia, who had been watching the subtle play of emotions rolling around in Alex's eyes, lifted her head up off the pillow and captured the blonde's lips softly with her own. "Yes," she agreed when she pulled away. "It is surreal if you look at it that way."

"What other way is there to look at it?" Alex pursed her lips thoughtfully.

"Well," Olivia threaded her fingers into Alex's hair and began to massage the blonde's scalp. "We've known each other for what now, two years?"

"A little bit longer than that, but okay."

"And we've been to lunch and dinner together, just the two of us more times than we can count," Olivia continued outlining her case. "And we've hung out – gone running in the park, watched movies together, and so on – correct?"

"Mmm," Alex nodded. "So?"

"A date generally consists of a meal or activity shared between two individuals, does it not?"

Alex smiled at Olivia's attempt at a courtroom voice. "Indeed it does, Counselor," she teased.

"Careful Ms. Cabot," Olivia smiled. "Any more attitude and I'll have to treat you as a hostile witness."

Blue eyes grew noticeably darker as Alex husked, "You promise?"

"You're incorrigible," Olivia chuckled. "My point in all this was that I've been attracted to you since the first time I met you over two years ago – and I've been in love with you for at least the last year – so, to me, all those dinners, lunches, hanging out movie nights at your place or mine, were like little mini-almost-dates."

"So we've been dating for two years?"

"Well-" Olivia smiled "-perhaps a little less than that - we didn't start spending time together outside of work straight away, but basically… yeah."

"Really?"

"My point is, it's not like we didn't know each other before this happened." Olivia squeezed Alex's waist for emphasis. "So the fact that it feels right, just means that it is. Right, I mean."

Alex smiled and leaned in and brushed her lips against Olivia's. "I love you," she breathed.

Instead of answering, Olivia rolled them over so she was nestled in the cradle of Alex's body with her hips snug between the surprised lawyer's legs. "I love you, Alex," she murmured as she leaned in closer and captured Alex's lips with her own.

Alex smiled serenely. "Not that I don't like this-" she ran her hands down Olivia's ribs to grasp the brunette's hips and pull them into herself firmly "-because I do. But doesn't it hurt?"

Olivia winced slightly as she walked the fingers on her injured arm down Alex's side so that it was hanging loose to the side. "A little," she gasped as her wrist cleared Alex's torso and dropped to the mattress. "But it's okay."

Concerned blue eyes studied hooded brown as Alex waited to see if Olivia was going to truly be all right in her new position.

"Really Alex." Olivia smiled. "I'm holding all my weight on my good side, I'm fine."

Alex frowned slightly, still worried about Olivia's shoulder, but her concern for Olivia's well being became significantly less when the stubborn brunette, still holding her weight on her left side, rocked her hips forward in a slow teasing thrust.

"Sweet Jesus," Alex groaned as a frisson of pleasure rolled through her. "Liv," she half pleaded, half moaned, torn between the implicit promise of ecstasy and her now rapidly diminishing concern for her lover's health.

Olivia smiled and leaned down to nip gently at a protruding collarbone. "Yes, Alex?" she asked, punctuating her question with another slow thrust, pushing as forcefully into Alex as she could and holding herself there.

Alex's eyes rolled back in her head at the heavenly feeling of Olivia's weight atop her, at the amazing feeling of the brunette's body rubbing so incredibly perfectly against her core, at the magnificent feeling of Olivia's gorgeous breasts pressed into her own. This, this was what she'd fantasized of more than anything else. Being under Olivia, watching expressive brown eyes cloud with emotion, with her desire, as she was completely and utterly possessed by the enigmatic detective. Another nip at her clavicle had her hips bucking into her lover's, the movement placing her clit in direct contact with Olivia's mound.

"God," Alex groaned loudly, her grip on Olivia's hips tightening as the brunette, feeling the heat of Alex's arousal coating her own body, thrust her hips forward, pushing hard into the sensitized bundle of nerves.

"Look at me Alex," Olivia whispered, her hips rocking gently, ever so gently, into the blonde beauty pinned beneath her.

"Hmm?" Alex murmured as she opened her eyes to focus on the woman hovering above her.

"I love you," Olivia whispered as she dropped her lips to capture the blonde's.

Alex moaned into the kiss as lips immediately parted to allow seeking tongues free reign to explore, massage, and stroke against the other. "Liv," she gasped as the brunette's hips began to rotate against her.

"Let me love you," Olivia pleaded softly against the column of Alex's throat. "Please, just let me love you," she murmured, running the tip of her tongue over to where she could see Alex's pulse pounding a steady rhythm and sucked gently against it.

At that plea, that beautiful soft-spoken plea, any self-control that Alex had managed to hang onto flew out the window. She moaned wordlessly as her hips began working counterpoint to Olivia's, her grip on the brunette's hips tensing and releasing as the brunette slowly pushed her higher and higher until she was literally skirting the edge of release, her eyes closed in deference to the raw power of their loving.

Olivia felt tears begin to pool in her eyes as she watched Alex, her Alex, lose herself in passion. She was in awe of the fact that she was able to bring this magnificent woman pleasure, that she would even be allowed the opportunity to do so. So she watched, noticing the way Alex's breathing hitched when she pushed into her just so, or the way pristine alabaster skin began to flush, the tint spreading from the blonde's chest, up her throat, until her cheeks were glowing with desire. She knew that if Alex were to look at her, she would find herself staring into the most beautiful stormy blue eyes she had ever seen, and she would lose herself in their depths. Lost, lost forever to float adrift in their depths, helpless to fight, helpless to do anything but embrace the woman they belonged to because that woman, that siren, owned her completely. Mind, body, and soul.

When the waves of ecstasy became too great to fight and Alex let go, it was with her lover's name falling from her lips in a prayer, a long, keening, drawn out prayer that ended with a simple, breathless, timeless chant, "I love you."

+++/+++\+++

Alex looked over at her lover as the cab meandered through the expected traffic toward One Hogan Place. She smiled softly to herself as she was allowed the opportunity to drink in the dichotic beauty that was Olivia Benson.

_It is amazing,_ she couldn't help thinking to herself, _that such raw power and such rugged beauty could exist so perfectly in one woman. _

Keen blue eyes roamed strong shoulders hidden under sexy leather and down to trim hips framed by snug low riding jeans and across toned muscular thighs.

_Yummy._

"Stop staring at me Alex," Olivia's laughing voice interrupted the ADA's thoughts. "You're creeping me out."

Alex bit her lip and smiled. _Should have known she'd feel me watching her_, she thought as she leaned across the seat to rest her chin on the brunette's shoulder. "Who says I'm staring at you?" she teased.

"I can feel it," Olivia answered simply, enjoying the weight of Alex's head on her shoulder.

"How?"

"You think I made Detective by not being observant?" Olivia turned to smirk at her lover, letting her gaze travel over the Alex's face before flowing down her neck to the deep V exposed by the two open buttons at the top of the attorney's light blue oxford, across twin mounds and down, over what she knew to be a toned flat belly, to settle on the delicate Y at Alex's center that was highlighted by the folds of charcoal slacks before making the return trip up to focus on twinkling blue eyes. "I can feel your eyes on me. My skin tingles wherever your gaze lands."

_Dear Lord do I know what you mean._ Alex shivered. "Tingles?" she asked, playing along.

"Mmm," Olivia nodded, smirking slightly before she turned her attention back to her window. It really was so nice to be out of the apartment for a change. "Tingles. Kind of like that slow burn that starts low in my belly when you look at me with what could only be described as pure, unbridled desire in your eyes. Or the seemingly electric current that flows through me and settles in my very center every time you touch me," she explained in a blasé offhand manner, as if the scenarios she was using as comparisons were completely innocent.

"Really?" Alex murmured, her voice light and teasing as she allowed herself to fall under Olivia's spell.

"Mmmhmm," Olivia hummed. "I've always felt your eyes on me. And I used to tell myself that it was just wishful thinking, that I was imagining things, but there were times that I knew it was real and that we'd end up here," she said as she gathered Alex's right hand in her left.

"What times?" Alex husked softly, ignoring the quiet chuckle that escaped their extremely observant cabbie.

"When we'd fight in your office." Olivia smiled, pleased with herself for the spell she was weaving. "The fire in your eyes as we argued was scorching. And every so often, I'd feel that heat drop to the pulse point on my neck," she continued quietly, licking her lips unconsciously as her mind flicked back to a memory of one such encounter. "And that was okay, I could handle that. But when it dropped to my breasts or lifted to focus on my lips it was all I could do to not throw you down on your desk and just take you then."

"Take me…" Alex breathed.

"Hard, fast, and so… so completely," Olivia murmured, her voice low and steady. "And there was always something in your eyes that dared me to do it, dared me to take you, dared me to **_own_** you, and those were the times that I knew, knew, that this was real and that we'd eventually find our way here."

"We're here," the cabbie announced as he pulled to a stop outside the DA's offices. "Twelve seventy five," he informed them.

Alex reached into her purse and withdrew a couple of bills, not bothering to check their denominations as she threw them at the laughing driver who glanced at the cash and offered them a sincere, "Hey! Thanks!"

Alex nodded and slammed the door shut, turning to find one very amused Olivia Benson smiling at her. "What?"

"You do realize you just paid the guy forty bucks for a twelve dollar cab ride, right?"

"Whatever." Alex waved dismissively. "I was a little distracted."

"C'mon Alex," Olivia said as she placed her hand at the small of the ADA's back. "Let's go see Serena," she laughed as she steered the still slightly flushed blonde up the steps toward the front door.

"Ms. Cabot, Detective" Bill, the security guard at the front entrance, greeted them with a smile. "So glad to have you back."

"Thank you Bill," Alex smiled warmly at the man as she led them inside through the metal detectors, her mind half on what was happening and half trapped in the erotic scene Olivia had painted in her mind.

"Which floor?" Olivia leaned in close and murmured directly into Alex's ear.

"I dunno," Alex bit her lip and smirked. "I'm still trying to decide if I want to take you to my office right now or if we should go to Serena's like good girls."

"We'll save your office for when I'm healed," Olivia smiled.

"Fine," Alex huffed playfully. "Then we're off to the sixth floor. Tease," she muttered under her breath, laughing softly at the knowing smirk that tweaked the detective's plump kissable lips.

+++/+++\+++

"Alexandra," Shannon, Serena's assistant, said with a warm smile. "How are you feeling dear?"

"I'm fine Shannon, no permanent damage done," Alex assured the matronly woman. "Is Serena back from court yet?"

"She's not," Shannon said. "But, she called a few minutes ago and said that she shouldn't be too much longer. She wanted me to give you this-" she offered Alex a plain white envelope "-and told me to tell you girls to get comfortable in her office and that she'll be up soon."

"Thank you," Olivia smiled and nodded her thanks as she opened the door to Serena's office.

"If you need coffee, tea, water, anything – let me know and I'll get it for you dears," Shannon smiled.

"Thanks Shannon." Alex nodded appreciatively as she walked through the door that Olivia was holding open for her.

Olivia closed the door behind Alex before crossing the room and dropping carefully into the leather couch against the back wall. "What's in the envelope?"

Alex shrugged as she slid a finger under the flap and ripped it open. "I dunno," she murmured as she pulled out a single sheet of paper and quickly scanned the message on it.

Olivia watched her lover's lips curve into an amused smile. "What is it?"

"Do not, under any circumstances, defile my office. You have an office one floor down if you feel the need for exercise," Alex read aloud with a laugh.

"God, is that all she and Abbie think about?" Olivia grumbled.

"Oh please." Alex smirked as she refolded the page and slid it back into the envelope. "Coming from the woman who was doing a damn fine bit of phone sex foreplay in the cab on the ride over."

"You're just mad that it was foreplay," Olivia smiled.

"Yes, yes I am," Alex agreed as she lowered herself onto the couch next to her lover, letting her head fall back against the cushions instead of onto Olivia's shoulder as she so dearly wanted. "This not touching you, professional distance thing is going to be hard," she muttered softly as she fought the urge to reach over and take Olivia's hand into her own.

"I know baby," Olivia soothed softly. "But we're back in the real world now. Time to act like grown-ups."

+++/+++\+++

"Hi Shannon." Serena stopped to greet her assistant. "Are they here?"

"They are." Shannon nodded.

"Great," Serena said, a tired smile lifting her lips. She just wanted to get through this last witness prep so she could gear up for opening statements the next day. She opened her door and froze, one foot in her office and one out, as she took in the sight that greeted her. Alex and Olivia were asleep on her couch, each woman purposefully positioned on their own end of the sofa to put physical space between them, the only telling sign that they belonged much, much, closer was the way their heads tilted toward the other and their inside hands rested against the center seam of the couch, their fingertips oh so close to touching but not.

_They are a striking pair,_ she thought to herself as she observed them. _So different, yet so incredibly perfectly for the other as well. I'm glad they finally found their way to each other. _

A quick glance at the clock showed that it was still barely five, so instead of waking her sleeping friends she sat down at her desk and got to work on polishing up the finishing touches to her opening statement.

Serena let her pen fall to her desk as she finished tweaking her opening and with a reluctant sigh, the blonde ADA padded across her office to the couch where Alex and Olivia were still resting.

"Hey girlies," she nudged first Alex, then Olivia, playfully. "Time to wakey wakey."

Alex groaned softly as she stretched. "What time is it?" she mumbled.

"Nearly six thirty," Serena answered, an amused smile tweaking her lips as she watched Olivia go through a similar wake-up routine. "You ready?"

"Sure." Alex nodded, running a hand through her hair. "How'd the jury selection go?"

"Good," Serena reported as she demurely lowered herself into one of the client chairs she had turned away from her desk to face the couch. "It has a good feel."

"Good." Alex pursed her lips, her Ice Princess ADA mask falling into place. "Let's nail this bastard."

"He's been arraigned on three counts of rape in the first degree, one count of criminal possession of a fire arm in the first degree, aggravated assault upon a police officer, and assault in the second degree," Serena told them. "He's not eligible for the death penalty, but we're going for life on this guy."

"Should get it too," Alex murmured approvingly. "Five Bs and a C, I'd be surprised if he got less. Let's get to work."


	16. Chapter 16

...

+++/+++/+++/+++/+++/+++

_**Part 16**_

Serena nodded her approval of Alex's sentiments and pushed herself up from her chair, quickly crossing her office to retrieve a thin manila file folder off her desk. She flipped it open and rifled through the papers inside it as she returned to her chair in front of her friends.

"These are the lists of questions I'm planning on asking you both when you're on the stand," she offered Olivia and Alex separate sheets. "I know you know the drill, but it's best to be prepared. Olivia," she turned her focus on the dark detective, "I'm planning on calling you first, to set the scene – so to speak – for Alex's testimony."

"Sounds good," Olivia agreed somewhat distractedly as she was busy scanning the list of questions Serena had handed her. Nothing looked out of the ordinary from any of her other cases, she observed, the familiarity of the who, what, when, where, and how questions putting her at ease with what was going to happen inside Brennan's courtroom.

Serena drew a deep breath and steeled herself for the more difficult half of the briefing. "Alex," she murmured, waiting to continue until she could see the blue of the ADA's eyes. "I'm closing with you and your testimony."

"I figured as much," Alex shrugged dismissively as she scanned the list of question Serena had handed her. "I would, if I were the one presenting the case."

"I know," Serena smiled. "Do you want to talk through your answers to the questions I handed you? I'm not going to waste any of our time with a full prep here, but if there's something you'd like to discuss now is the time to do it."

Alex nodded her understanding and returned her attention to the list of questions clasped tightly in her hands. Like the list given to Olivia, there was nothing unexpected on it – it was all just extremely, intensely, personal. She knew it needed to be, that her emotion would sell the jury on a conviction, but she was supremely concerned about what would happen once she let that wall down when she was on the stand.

"Alex?" Olivia placed a warm reassuring hand on the introspective blonde's thigh. "What are you thinking about baby?"

"I was just …," she started to explain before her voice failed her.

Serena nodded to herself, noting the question that Alex's index finger had landed on. "Alex," she leaned in and placed her hand on top of the blonde's. "You can't be the Ice Queen for this one. I need you to be a woman who was assaulted and very nearly violated. No mask, no walls. I need you to show _**something**_, not just spit out answers like an automaton," she lectured gently, noting the spark of anger that flashed through Alex's eyes at the suggestion that she was an unfeeling robot. "I know you Alex, that's what you did when I initially questioned you about what had happened. And while effective for a conviction, you know as well as I do that maximum sentencing in these types of cases depends heavily on the emotional aspect of the crimes."

"I know," ice blue eyes full of fire focused on Serena, but before Alex could continue she was interrupted by the ringing of Serena's cell phone.

"Whose ringtone is _'Texas Fight'_?" Olivia asked, even though she knew the answer, in an effort to diffuse some of Alex's misplaced anger.

"Abbie," Serena smiled her thanks at Olivia as her shoulders relaxed. "Girl programmed it in herself. I told her she should have used _'Redneck Woman'_ but apparently that's her ringtone for her mother and she didn't see the humor of my suggesting it as hers."

"Should have known," Olivia smiled.

"Tex has quite a skill with the phones," Serena told Olivia pointedly. "A … lot … of … skill," she emphasized. "Hey Abs," she directed her attention to the woman on the other end of the phone connection. "What's up?"

Alex stood and ran a somewhat shaky hand through her hair. She frowned slightly as she leaned in close and muttered to Olivia, "I'll be right back," before quickly striding across the room and disappearing out the door.

Serena's hand fell away from her ear as she watched Alex leave. "Where's she going?"

"_Who?_" the tinny voice of Abbie Carmichael echoed out of the cell.

"I'll go check on her," Olivia assured the worried prosecutor, offering a half-assed smile and a shrug as she followed Alex's path out of Serena's office. A quick glance to the left showed no sign of the blonde but a quiet voice from her right supplied the desired information as to Alex's current whereabouts.

"She took the elevator," Shannon answered the detectives unspoken question. "It stopped on five, I would imagine that she went down to her office to hide. Poor dear, this can't be easy for her – or for you, by the look of that heavy-duty sling you're wearing detective."

"Thank you," Olivia smiled gently at Serena's assistant. "Really Shannon, thanks."

"Go get your girl detective," Shannon answered, smirking slightly at the brunette's look of surprise. "My Benny used to look at me the way you look at her," she offered by way of an explanation. "Ms. Southerlyn did not betray your confidence, nor shall I betray yours. Now, get a move on. I suggest the stairs," she nodded her head toward the fire exit down the hall to the right. "They're faster."

"You are a dear," Olivia smiled and nodded her thanks as she turned and hustled down the hall toward the stairs.

She took the steps as fast as she could, ignoring the sharp stabs of pain that radiated from her injured shoulder with each footfall, her entire being focused on getting to Alex as quickly as possible. She bounded out the door on the fifth floor and followed the familiar path to ADA Alexandra Cabot's office. She could see the faint glow of the attorney's green shaded desk lamp shining through the half closed blinds and she wasted no time opening the door and entering the dim office.

"Alex," she murmured, automatically spying her agitated lover curled up in a ball in her desk chair. "Baby, what's wrong?"

Alex sniffed quietly and hugged her legs tighter to her chest. "I'm fine Liv, I'll be back up in a minute, you don't have to sit here and babysit me," she muttered, sounding half embarrassed, half angry, with herself for breaking down.

"I'm not on a babysitting mission Alex," Olivia answered, her voice soft and soothing as she quickly closed the door behind herself before crossing the room to sit on the corner of the ADA's desk. "Talk to me. Why did you get so upset?"

"I don't know," Alex answered, her voice so faint that Olivia, even perched on the edge of the desk, had to strain to hear it. "I don't know. The list of questions was exactly what I would have prepared, so I don't know why seeing them on that page freaked me out so much."

"I do," Olivia murmured as she slid off her perch and moved around the back of Alex's chair to gently massage the blonde's neck.

"How do you know?" Alex muttered defiantly.

Olivia knew that Alex was just afraid, that her reaction was one of fear, so she decided on a more tactful approach to handling the situation. "You're scared that you'll break down on the stand like you did when you told me what happened to you," she stated softly. "You're afraid of how you're going to manage to keep your chin up when you return to work next week if everybody knows what happened to you. You're terrified of what would happen if word reached the masses that the unshakable Alexandra Cabot was a victim. I know, Alex. Because it's the same thing I would be afraid of were our positions reversed."

"I will not break down on the stand."

"Nobody's asking you to," Olivia replied as she dug her thumb into a particularly dense knot at the base of Alex's neck. "All Serena's asking is for you to tell the jury what happened, but to do it in a way that doesn't make you appear detached. You know how captivating your voice is Alex, you know how to manipulate the jury with a simple change of inflection – quiet your voice to show fear, raise it to show anger, you know how to do this."

"You think my voice is captivating?"

Olivia laughed softly and leaned down to whisper against Alex's ear, "Baby, you could read me the phone book and I'd probably get off on it."

Alex laughed softly and turned her head to capture Olivia's lips with her own in a soft, sweet, adoring kiss. "Thank you," she murmured, resting her forehead against the brunette's.

"You can do this Alex, and nobody's going to think any less of you for having been attacked. If anything, it'll make you all the more impressive and fearsome in court – I wouldn't be surprised if the next handful of rapists plead out once they learn that you're going to be the one prosecuting them."

"Well that sucks," Alex grumbled, a small measure of her playfulness returning as the irrational knot of fear in her chest loosened. "That's going to kill my win/loss ratio."

Olivia smiled and kissed the tip of Alex's nose. "Just think of all the free time you'll have to spend with me at night instead of being here pouring through evidence and writing briefs."

"Good point," Alex kissed Olivia again before pushing herself up out of her chair. "C'mon oh wise one, let's get back up to Serena's office and finish this and then maybe I can take you out to dinner?"

"If that's what you'd like," Olivia nodded, the only sign of her surprise being a slight tightening of her eyes.

"I'm not going to hide out in my apartment until this goes away," Alex waved at her cheek. "Besides," she smirked over her shoulder as she walked out of the room, "we've been sleeping together for days, it's about time we go on a real date – don't you think?"

Olivia smiled and followed Alex out of the office, stopping to make sure the door closed and locked behind them. "So, does this mean I'll be getting lucky later?" she murmured as she sidled in behind the blonde and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Maybe," Alex laughed quietly.

…

"Everything alright?" Serena asked as Olivia and Alex reentered her office.

Olivia nodded as Alex replied, "Yeah. How's Abbie?"

"She's good. So, you okay Alex?"

"Fine, sorry about that," Alex waved her hand to indicate her running out earlier. "I'm good. I'll be fine."

"Good. So, any questions slash comments about the questions I gave you?"

"Nope, they're exactly what I would ask."

"And you're going to be fine to testify?"

"I'll be ready," Alex nodded. "I'll have Liv prep me at home. I'll be good to go for trial. Are you still thinking you'll be calling us on Thursday?"

Serena nodded. "Yeah. It'll probably be late afternoon, so if you guys want to get to the courthouse after the lunch recess, I'll have a meeting room reserved for our use that you can hide out in. Now," she breathed deep, "as you can imagine the press love the idea of a story where an ADA and a Detective were both injured while investigating a rape case. Liz and Petrovsky have set it up with security for you to enter and leave the building via the Judge's entrance so you can avoid the press. The press is allowed two representatives to sit in on the trial, one print and one television. They will be the ones distributing the actual play-by-plays to the general pool."

"Who?" Alex asked.

"Chris Carter of the _Times_ and Beth Newman from Channel Nine," Serena answered.

"Is that good?" Olivia asked.

"Eh," Alex shrugged. "They don't hate me and they're consummate professionals. They tend to be a little tough on Trevor, so that's a definite mark in the win column."

"What's important is that they respect you," Serena leveled her gaze on Alex. "So any reports of your testimony will be positive."

"Then there's that," Alex smiled.

"Exactly," Serena nodded. "Well, if you're okay with everything and promise to be good girls and practice at home – you are free to go. I'll call tomorrow night to check in and unless anything changes, I'll see you Thursday. I'll text you that morning and let you know which meeting room you can use."

"Sounds good," Alex answered before turning her attention to her lover. "Ready to go?"

"I'm always ready," Olivia smirked.

"Oh I bet you are Detective," Serena teased throatily.

"Okay, just reach on down and pick your mind up out of the gutter Southerlyn. We're going to go out for dinner," Alex laughed as she pulled her friend in for a hug. "Thank you," she murmured in her ear before pulling away.

+++/+++

Olivia gave Alex's hand a little tug, pulling the blonde to a stop in front of her as she surveyed the restaurant that Alex had chosen. "Are you sure about this?"

"Sure," Alex smiled. "I come here all the time. They make killer margaritas."

"It doesn't look … sanitary," Olivia observed hesitantly.

Alex laughed. "Please, I've seen some of the places you go to eat with the guys!"

"I know," Olivia nodded, her face serious. "And yet I'm questioning this one, that should tell you something."

"Trust me Liv," Alex purred as she pulled the wary brunette back into motion.

Olivia frowned and followed Alex into the restaurant hesitantly. "Wow," she murmured as she crossed the threshold and observed the interior of the restaurant.

"Told ya," Alex smirked knowingly as she led them towards the counter. "Hi Miguel," she greeted the man behind the counter with a smile. "Could we get one of the booths in the back tonight?"

"Of course Alex," he smiled warmly and Alex noticed the way his eyes flickered over her bruised cheek.

"What happened?" he asked, gesturing toward her face.

"Car accident," Alex lied smoothly, not wanting to get into the grisly details and knowing that Olivia would follow her lead.

"Oh," he nodded. "Well, I'm glad you're feeling well enough to be up and about then chica."

"Thank you," Alex smiled.

"So, not in the mood for sitting at the bar tonight?" Miguel asked as he walked out from behind the counter and waved at them to follow him through the maze of tables to the back of the restaurant.

"Not really," Alex answered with a shrug and another smile as she slid into the round booth. "It's more of a quiet anonymous dinner kind of night," she extrapolated as she smoothed her hands over the burgundy table cloth.

Miguel smiled knowingly and nodded at Olivia. "I would keep this one to myself as well chica. I'll have Anna come on back to get your drink orders while your friend looks over the menu."

"Thanks Miguel," Alex smiled, and breathed a little easier knowing that he would tell Anna her little white lie and that she wouldn't be asked about it again that evening.

"What is this place?" Olivia asked as she let her eyes roam over the murals depicting lush tropical foliage and beach scenes on the walls.

"El Cholo," Alex answered as she, too, looked around the restaurant and noticed the smiling redhead approaching their table. "I come here after particularly tough cases to get away from it all."

"_Hola_ Alex," Anna smiled. "What would your friend like to drink? _Margarita_? _Cerveza_?"

Olivia looked over at Alex. "What are you going to get?"

Alex chucked and waved a hand at Anna who answered the Detective's question with a laugh, "Petron Cadillac on the rocks. Heavy on the tequila, light on the mix. Extra salt. And for dinner she'll be having the shrimp fajitas."

"I know I'm down to the super Ibuprofen, are you?" Olivia asked Alex, concerned about the blonde possibly mixing alcohol with her stronger medication.

"Have been for a few days now," Alex nodded.

"Okay then," Olivia smiled. "Give me the same."

"For dinner as well?" Anna clarified.

Olivia nodded. "Why not."

"I like her," Anna smiled as she reached out and squeezed Alex's shoulder. "Keep this one around."

"I plan to Anna," Alex assured her. "Thanks."

"_No problemo chica_," Anna smiled. "I'll get Joey to bring your drinks back, you know you're going to break his heart when he sees you _con_ _su_ _amante_."

"Anna," Alex laughed. "You're killing me."

Anna just winked as she sashayed away from their table and back up front to the bar to place their drink orders.

"Joey?" Olivia arched a brow questioningly.

"Anna and Miguel's son," Alex smiled. "He's a freshman at NYU."

"You're gonna break the poor boy's heart?"

"Possibly," Alex laughed softly and nodded embarrassedly before leveling her gaze onto Olivia. "But he knew he never had a chance."

…

"So how did you find this place?" Olivia asked as she sipped her margarita. She couldn't help but smile as the smooth liquor slid down her throat – Alex was right, again, they did make a damn fine margarita.

"Remember the Valdez trial? It was my third or fourth case with SVU."

"Ummm," Olivia hummed as she paused to rifle through her mental file of past cases. "Yeah – the Hernandez girls. Munch and Fin were the primaries, but I remember doing some of the leg work on it. That was the one where their neighbor kidnapped the two little girls and tried to sell them into a kiddie prostitution ring. We got them back right before they were to be sold."

"Exactly. Well, Anna," Alex nodded toward the front of the restaurant, "is Maria Hernandez's sister. She's the one who told me about her family's _Restaurante_."

"Small world," Olivia observed as she took another sip from her drink.

"That it is," Alex agreed as she took a solid drink from her own glass.

…

"Thank you so much Anna," Alex hugged the redhead after they'd finished their meal and were set to head home. "It was amazing, as always."

"It was," Olivia nodded her agreement. "Thank you."

"_Gracias_, Alex, Olivia," Anna smiled. "It is our pleasure. We will be seeing the both of you soon, _si_?"

Alex looked over at Olivia who smiled. "Absolutely," Olivia assured them.

Alex smiled and slid her arm around the brunette's shoulders. "Thanks again Anna, Miguel," she nodded at each of them in turn before gently steering her Detective towards the door. She knew from past experience that Anna and Miguel would sit and chat for as long as you hung around, and the tequila had done its job and sufficiently unwound her to the point that she was ready for bed. But not necessarily ready to sleep.

"Wow," Olivia murmured as they hit the sidewalk and began the short trip to the intersection where they'd be able to hail a cab easier. "I am so full."

"Mmm," Alex smiled. "Told ya."

"And you were right about the margaritas too," Olivia stated as she wrapped her arm around Alex's back and pulled the blonde in closer. "They mixed those strong enough that I'm feeling buzzed and I only had two."

"I don't mess around when it comes to my alcohol," Alex laughed.

"Why don't you ever order a margarita when you come out with the squad?"

"Because when I'm in the right company," Alex squeezed Olivia's waist, "tequila does two things to me. It makes me veeeeery relaxed."

"And what else?"

"It makes me horny," Alex purred seductively. "I couldn't drink it around you before because I didn't trust myself enough to not jump you."

Olivia dropped her hand from Alex's waist, grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle tug to try and get the laughing blonde to hurry up. "Let's go find a cab."

Alex laughed and hurried after Olivia. "What's the rush, Detective?"

+++/+++

"You are relentless!" Olivia laughed as Alex nibbled at her neck, making the task of fitting the key into the lock on the ADA's door that much more difficult.

"Mmm," Alex moaned softly, smiling at the small shiver of anticipation that she felt roll through her lover. "Only when I'm around you baby."

"Thank god," Olivia groaned as she finally managed to slide the key home and throw the door open. "Get in here," she laughingly pulled Alex in after her. She quickly closed the door and pushed Alex back against it, pinning the blonde to the door with her body.

"Hi," Alex smiled, her blue eyes twinkling as she bit her lip coquettishly.

"You drive me crazy," Olivia murmured as she leaned in and teasingly brushed their lips together before she deliberately kissed her way across Alex's jaw to nip gently at the sensitive spot below the blonde's ear.

"Liiiiiiiv," Alex moaned as her knees buckled slightly at the brunette's oral attack.

"Hmmm?" Olivia hummed as she raked her teeth over the sensitive area.

Trim hips rocked forward in a blind search for contact. "Please?"

"Alex," Olivia groaned as Alex's free hand began tugging at her belt. "Christ. Does tequila really do this to you?" she asked, leaning back far enough to look into the blonde's eyes.

"When I've had enough. Which, I haven't," Alex informed Olivia as she finally opened the brunette's belt and set to work on her fly.

"What's this then?" Olivia gasped as she felt Alex's hand begin to work its way inside her underwear.

"Too much teasing in the cab on the way home?" Alex offered with a shrug as she pushed off of the door and began slowly walking Olivia backwards down the hall toward the bedroom, using her hand that was pressed tight against the brunette's lower abdomen as a fulcrum.

"If I remember correctly you were the one who st-st…," Olivia began to argue but lost her motivation as one of Alex's fingers dipped down far enough to brush against her clit.

"What was that Detective?" Alex smiled, purposefully pushing up into the sensitized nub with her fingertip and rubbing small circles against it.

"God Alex," Olivia moaned.

"You are so wet," Alex murmured approvingly, purposefully holding Olivia's gaze captive as she dipped her hand in deeper to trail her fingers through her lover's arousal.

Olivia could only stare into stormy blue eyes as Alex pulled her hand out and licked her fingers clean with a low, deep, appreciative moan. "Fuck," the brunette's exclamation escaped on a shaky breath.

By this time Alex had managed to steer them into the bedroom and she stopped their progress at the side of the bed. She smiled lovingly as she slowly worked Olivia's sling off over her head, carefully guiding the injured limb free of the support before just as tenderly removing the remainder of the brunette's clothes. Each piece fell to the ground unnoticed as the blonde's mouth pressed hot adoring kisses onto every inch of freshly exposed flesh. The fervor and the frantic rush of their earlier kisses got lost in the slow, deliberate, worshipping of flesh.

It wasn't until she was completely naked that Olivia managed to find her voice. "Your turn," she murmured as she moved to help Alex out of her own clothes.

Alex moaned softly as Olivia's mouth and tongue mimicked her previous actions by reverently kissing, licking and sucking every newly uncovered inch of creamy alabaster skin. She gasped softly at each awed brush of Olivia's lips against her skin, every caress of the brunette's tongue awakening nerve-endings and increasing the want, the need, the desire she was feeling.

When her legs became too shaky to continue such affections while standing, Alex gently pushed Olivia back onto the mattress and watched the brunette move herself into the middle of the bed before she joined her lover, quickly moving to straddle the prone detective's hips and recapturing her lips.

Lips parted immediately as tongues thrust, parried, and dueled with each other. Breasts pushed into breasts, nipples pressed into nipples as breaths began to come fast and shallow, the need and the ferocity of their earlier kisses returning with the electric friction of skin sliding against skin.

"I want to taste you," Olivia gasped between heated kisses.

Alex moaned loudly at the brunette's confession, her body immediately reacting to the brunette's plea. "Your shoulder?"

Olivia just smiled and tugged against Alex's hip, her unspoken directions showing the blonde what she had in mind.

Alex bit her lip thoughtfully as comprehension of what Olivia was asking for hit her. On any other night she would have gladly acquiesed, but tonight, tonight Olivia wasn't the only one who wanted _'to taste'_. An idea sprang to mind that would satisfy both their desires, and while it wasn't one of her favorite positions - she had to admit that, in this case, it was the best solution.

Olivia watched as a slow predatory smile tweaked Alex's lips as the blonde leaned in and murmured, "Okay."

Olivia began tugging a little more insistently against Alex's hip, urging the blonde higher. She groaned softly when Alex moved to the side of her body, that groan turning into a loud moan of pleasure as Alex began kissing down her body, pausing when they were perpendicular to each other. Alex stopped momentarily to suck each mocha colored nipple in her mouth before continuing her path down, her own body turning as she moved until she was able to carefully move her left leg over Olivia's head so she was straddling the brunette's mouth. Once she was sure that her position wasn't going to cause Olivia any pain, she used first her right hand and then her left to slowly pull her lover open below her.

"Oh god," Olivia moaned into Alex's sex as she felt the blonde's hands wrap around her thighs, strong fingers gripped her inner thighs and pulled her even wider as the ADA's tongue begin to trace slow delicate circles around her clit.

The brunette's warm breath coursing over her own sex reminded Alex, again, of why this particular position wasn't her favorite. She tended to lose that legendary Cabot focus. A slow broad lick from Olivia's tongue snapped her attention back to the task at hand and Alex mimicked her lover's actions, matching stroke for stroke, thrust for thrust, moan for moan. Their bodies rocked against each other in a beautiful sensual dance of giving and receiving love. Movements that began slow and deliberate became quick and frantic as they pushed each other higher and higher, faster and faster, toward the perilous edge of release.

"Liv," Alex gasped against Olivia's center as a small tremor rocked her.

Olivia mumbled wordless encouragements, all meaning lost as she was unwilling to move her lips away from Alex's sex as the pace and force of her oral assault increased. She was surrounded by Alex. Surrounded by the feeling of the blonde's toned thighs against her face, the smell of her arousal, the taste of her want, the sounds of her need. She was drowning in all things Alex – and it was glorious.

Pushed higher and higher by her lover's lips, teeth and tongue, oh god that magnificent, wonderful, tongue, Alex was forced to abandon her own oral assault; all coordination lost as Olivia drove her closer, closer, god so much closer to insanity, to bliss, to ecstasy. Not wanting to abandon her lover completely she replaced her tongue on Olivia's clit with her fingers, rolling, pinching, pulling the sensitized bundle of nerves; stroking, rubbing, flicking her lover higher and higher alongside her.

Olivia moaned wantonly into Alex's sex as she felt the blonde arch up above her. Moaned even louder when she felt Alex's hips rock back forcefully in a silent plea, a wordless offering, an unspoken declaration of trust as she willingly gave herself over so completely to her.

Olivia was the first to fall, her screams of pleasure quieted by Alex's sex, the sounds vibrating through Alex's very core and pulling the blonde screaming over the edge behind her.

Alex collapsed atop Olivia when the last quaking tremor rolled through her, breathless, spent, and oh so completely fucking satisfied.

"Oh god Liv," she panted against the brunette's inner thigh before she pushed herself up and turned around to capture Olivia's lips in a deep, searing, probing kiss.

Both women moaned softly as they tasted themselves on their lover's lips, the tastes mixing until one was indistinguishable from the other.

"I love you Alex," Olivia murmured softly when the need for air forced them to separate.

"Mmm," Alex sighed as she snuggled in closer and buried her face in the brunette's neck. "Love you too Liv," she mumbled, the tequila and the force of their coupling guiding her gently toward sleep.


	17. Chapter 17

...

**_Part 17_**

Serena Southerlyn glanced at her watch as she juggled a steaming latte, her satchel, a handful of mail and the keys to her office, which she somehow managed to open without dropping anything or spilling her coffee on herself. The satchel fell to the floor beside her desk with a heavy _thwump_, the keys clattered across the desktop and came to a halt against a perilously leaning pile of folders, and the stack of mail landed in the middle of her blotter along with her coffee.

It was with a semi-frazzled sigh that she, herself, dropped into her chair. She knew that when they pressed for the speedy trial that things would be hectic, but the evidence was so overwhelmingly in their favor that it'd seemed like a solid strategy at the time. Now, now she was running on three hours of sleep and was seriously considering having an IV slipped into her arm to just pump the caffeine into herself intravenously.

She picked up her coffee and blew into the top of the paper cup before taking a sip as she began to sort through the mail and messages that had been left on Shannon's desk. She smiled at the sight of the new Burberry catalogue and slid it into her drawer to drool over later. She had just begun to shuffle through the remaining folders and slips when there was a knock on her door.

"Come in," she hollered, surprised that there was anybody here at six thirty in the morning who needed to see her.

"Ms. Southerlyn," a 1L said as she stepped inside hesitantly. "This was just dropped off for you by courier."

Serena held her hand out and motioned the young woman closer. "What courier?"

"I don't know. Bill just said to get it up to you A-SAP, so here I am."

"Thanks," Serena muttered as she took the proffered envelope and flipped it open. "Oh holy mother of…" her rant was interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone.

"Care to inform me as to why I have just been handed a subpoena to appear as a witness for the defense in your rape case?" a familiar alto drawled.

Serena sighed. "I don't know Abbie. I just got Trevor's updated witness list handed to me. He has also added a nurse from the hospital to his arsenal as well. Do you have any idea what he's planning?"

"I'm not sure," Abbie muttered. "But my presence has been requested for tomorrow and Friday, so I'll head on up there tonight and we can sort through some theories then. Shit, I have so much goddamn work on my desk right now it isn't even funny. You focus on your case, I gotta go try and come up with some sort of explanation for Thomason as to why I've been summoned and need to return to New York for a trial I have no ties to."

"You have me." Serena smiled.

"Yeah," Abbie agreed, her voice softening at her girlfriend's reminder of how much she did have in New York. "Why is it that I'm hoping you having me isn't the reason I'm being called up there. Look, Ser, I need to go if I'm gonna make it up there tonight. I'll text you with my flight info when Janis sets it up."

"I guess I'll be seeing you tonight then," Serena murmured. "I gotta call Alex and let her know what's happening."

"Benson is going to go into overprotective guard dog mode. Good luck controlling those two. I'll be up as soon as I can."

"Thanks babe. I'll talk to you later," she hung up distractedly and immediately scrolled through her contact list to call Alex. "Pick up, pick up, pick up," she muttered as she paced back and forth in front of her desk. She watched distractedly as one particular pile of folders threatened to topple, but she was too concerned with trying to figure out what Trevor was up to, to really care. "Dammit Alex, pick up!"

+++/+++\+++

"Oh god, Liiiiiiiiiiiiv," Alex moaned, her hands tangling themselves in the sheets as her back arched up in pleasure.

"Is that your phone?" Olivia asked, pulling back slightly from the writhing blonde to listen.

Alex gasped at the sudden absence of pressure and looked down at her lover. "Do not stop," she growled, untangling one hand from the sheets to wrap it into messy brown locks and guide the woman's mouth back to where she needed it. "Mmmm, so close," she moaned, her head dropping back to the pillows at the return of Olivia's tongue to her clit.

+++/+++\+++

"Voicemail. Of course," Serena muttered to herself as she listened to Alex's outgoing message. "Alex, it's me. That better be a damn good orgasm you're having right now to be ignoring your phone. Just got handed an updated witness list from the defense. Call me when you get this. Court starts at eight, so if it's after then leave me a voicemail and I'll call you back when I can breathe."

+++/+++\+++

Olivia groaned in pleasure as she felt Alex's inner walls convulsing around her tongue. She placed one last adoring kiss to Alex's sex, smiling to herself at the small twitch and satisfied groan that the gesture brought, before she slowly ran her tongue up Alex's toned abs, through the valley of her breasts and up the graceful column of her throat before capturing her lips in a searing kiss.

Alex moaned into the kiss, delighting in the feeling of Olivia's body straddling her hips, reveling in the taste of herself on her lover's lips and tongue. "You are amazing," she murmured. "I could really get used to being woken up like that every morning."

"You definitely wouldn't hear me complaining." Olivia smiled and reclaimed the blonde's lips, groaning softly as she felt Alex's fingers trailing down her back.

"My turn." Alex grasped Olivia's ass and squeezed the firm muscles, using her grip along with her body to carefully flip Olivia over onto her back. "God Liv," she moaned as she felt Olivia's hips arch up into her, spreading a copious amount of wetness against her stomach.

"Alex," Olivia groaned, again shamelessly grinding herself up into her lover's stomach. She was so close, already so perilously close after making love to the beautiful blonde that she just needed… a… little… bit… more. "Christ," she gasped as she felt the wonderful friction of Alex's body pull away. "Please," she moaned, blindly reaching for Alex's hip in a failed attempt to regain that wonderful pressure against her straining clit.

"Shhh," Alex soothed as she dragged her fingertips down Olivia's torso, short nails scraping lightly against over sensitized skin leaving faint pink tracks across olive skin. "My turn," she murmured with an unmistakably feral glint to her eyes as she grasped Olivia's inner thighs and pulled them open wider.

"Alex," Olivia hissed at the stretch, her hips rocking upwards in an ineffective search for contact, for pressure, for release.

"Mine," Alex whispered, her voice soft and reverent and oh so fucking possessive, as she lowered her body to the mattress and settled herself at the apex of Olivia's thighs. "Mine," she repeated herself, her breath dancing over her lover's pink swollen lips before she flicked the tip of her tongue lightly against the straining bundle at the top of Olivia's opening.

"Yessssss," Olivia moaned loudly at the fleeting touch.

"Mine," Alex purred, leaning in and sucking softly against Olivia's clit before quickly releasing the sensitized nub and running her tongue down through her lover's sex, moaning loudly at the heavenly flavor of Olivia's desire.

"Please Alex," Olivia gasped as she felt the blonde's tongue thrust inside her. She was close. So fucking close.

Alex looked up the length of her lover and could see, could literally see the way Olivia's muscles were coiled and ready, so fucking ready, to let go. She slowly slid two fingers into the brunette, moaning softly at the feeling of hot wet velvet surrounding her, clenching against her, drawing her in deeper.

Wanting to make Olivia see stars, Alex purposefully kept from setting any kind of rhythm. She thrust hard and fast, stroked slow and deep. Two fingers became three, and she almost came herself at the low deep guttural moan of pleasure that escaped Olivia at the surprise, but before the brunette could fully adjust to the feeling of fullness she withdrew two of the fingers and teasingly rocked in and out of Olivia's opening with the one finger that remained buried in hot velvet.

"Christ, Alex," Olivia groaned at her lover's playfulness. She was so close. She was right there on the edge and she just needed that little bit more to push her over the dge.

Alex, hearing the painful need in Olivia's voice, lowered her tongue to the brunette's throbbing clit and began laying light flicks across it as she added a second finger, purposefully curling them to rub over the ribbed patch at the top of Olivia's channel.

That little push was all Olivia needed as she felt her entire body seize before releasing in waves, in sharp, violent, pleasurable waves that rolled through her with such intensity that she was left boneless and weak when the racking tremors finally subsided.

+++/+++\+++

"Are you ready Counselor?" Liz Donnelly's voice snapped Serena out of her distracted haze.

"Hmm?" Serena arched her brows questioningly. She'd missed the Bureau Chief's question.

"I said, are you ready?"

"Yeah," Serena said as she ran a hand through her hair. "I mean, I was. I mean, I think I am. I mean…"

"Holy hell woman, what's wrong?" Donnelly snapped.

"Got an updated list of defense witnesses delivered via courier this morning," Serena said as she dug the envelope out of her satchel and handed it to Liz. "I've been trying to figure out what he's planning."

Liz scanned the page and Serena noticed the look of surprise that lifted the older woman's brows as she reached the bottom of the short list of witnesses. "Why in the world would he be summoning Abigail?"

"I don't know," Serena sighed.

+++/+++\+++

"Mmm," Olivia moaned contentedly as she kissed the top of Alex's head. "You are… that was… wow."

Alex smiled and propped herself up onto her elbow to better look at her lover. "You're pretty wow yourself, Detective. You ready to get up and face the day?"

"Does that mean lying in bed naked all day isn't an option?" Olivia murmured, lifting her head off the bed to kiss Alex soundly.

"Mmm," Alex moaned, her body instantly responding to the brunette's caress. "I thought you wanted to go by your place and pick up some clothes for tomorrow?"

"I don't _want_ to," Olivia murmured as she traced delicate circles against the small of Alex's back. "But I don't think I should show up tomorrow in jeans and a leather jacket."

"Yes, but you look so hot in that jacket," Alex purred as she leaned in to kiss her lover hungrily.

"You're insatiable," Olivia chuckled.

"Are you complaining?"

"God no." Olivia smiled. "Just making an observation. You know, I am a Detective."

"Well, Detective-" Alex kissed Olivia one last time before she climbed off of the bed "-I'm going to go take a shower. If your finely tuned investigative skills can help you find it, you are more than welcome to join me," she teased as she sauntered into the gleaming white bath without a backwards glance.

+++/+++\+++

Serena glanced at her watch as she listened to Alex's phone ring through to voicemail, again. "Dammit – are you two still going at it? It's twenty till eight and I'm heading down to court, so I'm turning my phone off. Hopefully by the time we're at recess you two will be done fucking each other's brains out and you'll answer your phone."

+++/+++\+++

"So who called earlier when we were, um, busy?" Olivia asked as she walked into the kitchen to find Alex wrapped up in a fluffy white robe staring at her phone.

"What?" Alex asked, looking up at her lover with a look on her face that was a cross between embarrassment, amusement, and fear.

It was the fear, that tiny ember of fear, that made Olivia's heart skip a beat. She dropped the sweater that she was holding and quickly crossed the room to where Alex was sitting at the island. "What's wrong?"

Alex reached out and pulled Olivia in closer to her, wrapping her arms around Olivia's waist and burying her face in the crook of the brunette's neck. "Serena called twice, something about a change to Trevor's witness list. She sounded worried," she murmured, drawing strength from the warmth and solidity of the woman in her arms.

Olivia squeezed Alex gently. "So call her back and see what's going on."

Alex glanced up at the glowing green clock on the microwave. Seven fifty nine. "She's in court. Her phone is going to be turned off. Brennan is a complete Nazi about phones ringing in his courtroom."

+++/+++\+++

"All rise," the bailiff called out in an almost bored tone. "The Honorable Judge Brennan presiding."

_Shit,_ Serena thought to herself as she pushed herself up out of her chair. _Still no word from Cabot. _She glanced over at Trevor Langan and had to fight to keep from scowling at the pompous ass and the smug smirk that she wanted to knock right off his face. _Smarmy bastard. What are you up to Langan?_ She glanced quickly over her shoulder into the gallery and caught the eye of Liz Donnelly, her message clear in her gaze. _Get me Cabot._

Liz nodded and pulled out her phone as she quickly stood and left the crowded courtroom. As soon as she cleared the heavy double doors, she dialed up Alex and hit send. "Get your face out from between Benson's legs and answer your damned phone Alexandra," she muttered into the cell as it began to ring.

+++/+++\+++

"Just call her and leave a voicemail," Olivia said as she rubbed Alex's back reassuringly. "The trial just started – it can't be that bad. Tell her that we will meet her at her office at the lunch recess and that we'll have food with us. She can update us then."

Alex nodded and was in the process of dialing Serena's number when her phone rang.

"Is that the _Poltergeist_ theme?" Olivia cocked her head inquisitively.

"Yeah." Alex smiled.

"Abbie?"

"Nope – that's Liz's tone," Alex chuckled softly in spite of the knot of worry that had developed in the pit of her stomach. "Liz, what's going on?" she answered the call.

"_Did you get Serena's message?"_ Liz asked without preamble.

"Yes, I was just about to call her back and leave her a message," Alex replied. "Do you know why she called?"

"_Trevor subpoenaed Abbie Carmichael and a nurse from the hospital, um,_" the Bureau Chief paused to recall the woman's name, _"Heather Finnerty, if I remember correctly. We need to figure out what that sad excuse for a human being is planning – how fast can you two get to my office?"_

"Um, an hour?"

"What's going on?" Olivia whispered.

"_I'll be waiting for you."_

Alex frowned as she set her phone down on the counter. "We need to go down to Hogan to meet with Liz," she answered Olivia's question. "Trevor notified the court of a couple new witnesses this morning."

"Who?"

"Abbie and one of our nurse's from the hospital. Do you remember a nurse Finnerty? Heather Finnerty?"

"I don't know." Olivia ran a hand through her still slightly damp hair, mussing it in what Alex thought was the most adorable way. "I was a little preoccupied with this hot little blonde that was insisting on climbing into bed with me."

"Hey! You invited me into bed with you!"

Olivia smirked. "You liked my _pillows_. Why Abbie?"

"I don't know," Alex sighed heavily as she got to her feet. "I need to get dressed."

"Hey," Olivia murmured, placing a finger under the blonde's chin and demanding eye contact. "We'll figure this out."

"I know," Alex whispered.

"Alex." Olivia ducked her head to recapture her lover's gaze. "I love you."

"I love you too Liv," Alex answered softly before capturing Olivia's lips in a gentle caress. "I better get changed," she murmured as she pulled away.

Olivia sighed as she leaned down to pick up her discarded sweater off the floor, hating Trevor Langan more than ever for taking the happy loving glow out of Alex eyes and replacing it with what could only be described as fear and uncertainty. She pulled the red sweater over her head and ran her hands through her hair, taming any strands that might have become disheveled before heading into the living room in search of her boots. She had a feeling it was going to be a very long day.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N:** I am not a lawyer, nor have I received any specialized schooling relating to the law, its rules, or its practices. Any and all motions, rules, objections, etc., mentioned/alluded to from here on out are used within the parameters of creative license. In other words, it might not be right, but just go with it.

…

**_Part 18_**

Olivia was staring out the floor to ceiling windows overlooking Central Park trying to remember anything, anything about the nurse Liz had said was subpoenaed, when she heard Alex call out softly, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." She turned to face her lover, noticing the way Alex's fingers played with the collar of the sweater she still held in her hands. She drank in the sight of Alex in her casual black slacks, pink oxford, and her golden blonde hair pulled up in a messy twist. _Exquisite_. "Are you?"

"Don't have a choice." Alex shrugged halfheartedly as she pulled the cream sweater over her head. "I can't wait for this madness to be over," she muttered as she adjusted the collar of her shirt that was now poking out of the neck of her sweater before slipping her glasses back on.

"C'mere," Olivia murmured as she crossed the room and pulled the blonde into her arms. "Whatever happens, happens. You know Trevor – he likes to try and shake things up. Likes to try and pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat. Especially when he doesn't have a case. Which, he doesn't. The DNA on this one alone is enough to put this guy away for a very long time."

"I just wish I knew why he subpoenaed Abbie," Alex murmured into the hollow of Olivia's throat, drawing a distinct measure of comfort and strength from the familiar scent of sandalwood and leather that was so distinctly Olivia.

"Well, why don't we get down to Liz's office to see what's going on then? I called El and asked him to pull anything he could find on the nurse that Trevor added to his witness list – her schedule, when she was in our room, etcetera, and he's going to meet us at Donnelly's office."

"All right," Alex agreed as she lifted her lips to press a soft kiss to the underside of Olivia's jaw. "Let's get going."

+++/+++\+++

Alex and Olivia entered Liz Donnelly's office to find the older blonde standing behind her desk, palms flat on the blotter, completely focused on whatever was on the pages that she was studying. Alex nodded her head toward the couch, silently directing Olivia toward the leather sofa as she closed the door behind them.

"What do you have?" Alex asked after the door clicked shut.

Liz looked up and blew her bangs out of her eyes. "Detective Stabler just dropped this file off on his way to a scene. Heather Finnerty was the nurse on duty the morning you decided to demand your accommodations changed from the private room set up by Judge Hermann to the semi-private room that was occupied by one Detective Olivia Benson."

"Well, at least it isn't Nurse Ratchet," Alex mumbled as she dropped onto the couch next to Olivia.

"Do I want to know?" Liz groaned.

"I may have thrown up on her shoes in my rush to get down to Olivia," Alex answered with a small grin. "But this Nurse Finnerty, I don't remember her. I'm not even sure as to why she would qualify as a witness in this case, honestly. She may have observed us after the attack – but she has nothing to contribute to evidence as it pertains to the attack itself so why was she even allowed? Both her and Abbie should be disallowed as witness due to their lack of personal knowledge regarding the crimes."

"She's been called as a character rebuttal witness. As has Ms. Carmichael," Liz sighed. "And I don't see how it's relevant either. The only thing that makes even a modicum of sense is that Trevor is going to use them to try and discredit your testimony."

"But that's ridiculous," Olivia grumbled. "Our testimony is going to be restricted to the night of the attack – what happened, when we were approached, and so on and so forth. He was caught in the act of assaulting an officer of the court-" she pointed towards Alex "-and assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon by a NYPD Detective. He was caught red handed. Never mind the fact that once he was in custody we were able to compel a DNA sample from him that then matched him to the three prior victims."

"I can't believe Trevor is actually taking this thing to trial," Alex mumbled as she massaged her temples. "It's suicide. Usually he has more sense than to try something this stupid."

"Is there any way to force Brennan to excuse them as witnesses?" Olivia asked.

Liz shook her head. "Not if they're character witnesses. The defense is allowed to call whomever they wish to refute evidence put into record by the prosecution. Thank the sixth amendment for that one."

"It's going to be a hailstorm of objections as soon as Abbie gets up there," Alex groaned. "There's no way Serena is going to let him just go after Abbie."

"Maybe that's what he wants," Olivia thought aloud. "It's not a secret that Abbie was quite the playgirl when she was here and Serena – while not in the closet – hasn't exactly hidden her preferences either. Maybe he wants to discredit Serena, not us. Try and show that the prosecutor is biased because she herself is a lesbian. You know, the typical defense bullshit of look what this hand is doing while I fuck you with this other one."

Alex and Liz stared at the Detective.

"What?" Olivia frowned.

"You might be onto something there Detective," Liz murmured thoughtfully.

"But he has no relevant grounds upon which to question with whom Abbie is in a relationship with." Alex shook her head. "Even if he's stupid enough to ask the question, it's an easy objection to win. And still, why the nurse?"

Olivia shrugged. "She probably witnessed us cuddling in my bed."

Alex looked up and frowned. "But, again, he has no grounds upon which to bring that into evidence."

"Well, beyond the chance that she might have seen you drooling on my boob, I can't think of anything that she'd have to offer. It's not like either of us were in good enough condition for a rousing game of naked twister when we were in the hospital – how much harm can she do?"

"Don't!" Alex and Liz glared at Olivia.

"What?"

"Don't jinx it Benson," Donnelly growled. "Christ, is there not one superstitious bone in your body?"

Olivia was about to apologize when Liz's phone beeped. The Bureau Chief picked up the Blackberry and glanced at the screen, then her watch, and then back at the screen and frowned.

"What?" Alex and Olivia asked.

"That was fast," Liz murmured as she quickly typed out her response. "Update from Southerlyn. Opening statements are done. Responding officers for each of the rapes are up next."

Alex glanced at Olivia's watched and nodded. "They're moving quickly. Makes me really wonder what Langan is up to. He usually likes to showboat and take his time."

"Well, let's get back to work combing through these files – there's gotta be something here that we're missing," Liz instructed, effectively putting Alex and Olivia to work.

+++/+++\+++

An hour and no new ideas later, Liz's phone buzzed again and she read the message off with a small smile. "She's putting Warner on the stand now."

"Too fast," Alex murmured to herself as she leaned back on the couch and tried to sift through the series of events from their stay at the hospital. There had to be something that they were missing.

+++/+++/+++

"Your Honor," Serena pushed up from her seat and rounded the prosecution's table. "The People would like to call Doctor Melinda Warner as an expert witness as it pertains to the evidence recovered in these cases."

"Mister Langan?" Brennan looked over at the defense table.

"The defense stipulates that for the scope of this trial that Doctor Warner qualifies as an expert witness," Trevor drawled.

"Could you please state your name and occupation for the court," Serena prompted Melinda Warner through the obligatory expert witness qualification questions.

"Melinda Warner, Medical Examiner for the City of New York."

"Doctor Warner," Serena continued without looking away from the jury as she asked her next question. "Could you please walk us through how, exactly, DNA evidence was collected from each of the victims."

"Of course." Melinda nodded. "Rape kits were performed on each of the victims. The first step of the process is to have the victim disrobe while standing over a large piece of examination table paper to catch any and all debris that might have become entangled in their clothing. Once removed, each article is placed into a plastic bag and sealed to preserve any evidence that might be on the fabric."

"Evidence such as what?" Serena prompted, noting the already slightly glazed look of the second juror from the left in the back row.

"Hairs, fibers, bodily fluids," Melinda offered easily.

"So after the clothing is collected what happens next?"

"The physician conducting the examination takes notes of any and all lacerations, abrasions, bruises. Then those injuries are photographed for evidence."

"So after the victim is forced to strip and have pictures taken of their injuries, what is the next step?"

"Examination of the stomach, groin, inner thighs, vaginal area with a Wood's lamp."

"And what is that?" Serena walked Melinda through the familiar pattern of questions.

"Kind of like a black light. Semen and other bodily fluids light up under it so that the samples may be swabbed and submitted for DNA comparison. The pubic hair of the victim would then be combed with a sterile comb to check for any other trace evidence that might have become trapped in the hair. Once the external exam the doctor then performs an internal exam," Melinda continued without prompting. "Checking for tears to the hymen, if the victim was a virgin before the event, bruising of the vaginal walls, and the condition of the victim's cervix. Trauma to any of these places would be indicative of sexual trauma. The vagina would then be swabbed for fluids and then aspirated, the aspiration fluids would then suspended in a wet slide for microscopic examination. Samples of all fluids would be submitted for DNA testing."

"Anything else?" Serena asked.

"The underside of the victim's fingernails would be scraped, her fingernails clipped and bagged as evidence."

"Why?"

"In case the victim fought her attacker," Warner explained. "If she scratched him there would be skin cells left under her nails. DNA evidence is the most precise way to identify a victim's attacker."

"I see." Serena nodded for show before continuing. "And did the three women who were raped have any DNA evidence left on or inside them?"

"They did." Melinda nodded. "Each kit came back with semen samples that we were able to run through our DNA database."

"And what did you find when you ran the DNA?"

"That it wasn't it in the database," Melinda answered. "But they all matched. Each victim was attacked by the same man."

"If the samples recovered weren't in the database, how can you be so sure that Mister Walker was their attacker," Serena connected the dots for the jury.

"A sample was retrieved from Mister Walker via court order once he was arrested for assaulting a police officer and an officer of the court during the course of another attempted rape."

"And that sample collected from Mister Walker once he was in police custody matched the samples stored in the database that were submitted from each of the women's rape kits."

"It did. It was a perfect match."

"Thank you Doctor Warner." Serena offered Melinda a warm smile. "No further questions your honor."

"Mister Langan?" Brennan nodded toward Trevor.

"No questions, your Honor," Trevor replied. He wanted to argue something there but the officers who testified to the chain of evidence from the scenes to the hospitals to the transfer of collected evidence to the Medical Examiner's office left him no room to play without making him look like a complete ass. _Stupid kid should have taken the deal that he was offered, this case is air tight, _he shifted slightly in his seat and picked up his pen in a show of being ready to take notes on what the ADA's next witness testified to.

"Are you sure Counselor?" Brennan questioned.

"Yes your honor," Trevor replied.

"Very well." Brennan frowned. "As it is now eleven forty five, court will adjourn until one o'clock for lunch," he said as he tapped his gavel authoritatively.

"All rise," the bailiff bellowed.

Everybody stood and watched Judge Brennan make a hasty retreat to his chambers. As soon as he was gone, the people in the gallery began to shuffle out and the bailiff lead the jury back to the jury room while officers collected Chase Walker and led him back to one of the meeting rooms reserved for defendants down by the holding cells.

Serena gathered her notes and stuffed them into her satchel, eager to get up to Liz's office to see what theories had been hashed out while she was busy presenting the People's case.

"Smooth walkthrough of evidence recovery," Trevor smiled at Serena as he too packed up his bag.

"Thank you?" Serena's reply came out as more of a question.

Trevor nodded. "You received our updated witness list via courier this morning?"

"I did." Serena nodded, surprised that he was bringing it up. "I was surprised you provided as much notice as you did. The new names were a bit of a surprise," she said, hoping he would offer some sort of insight into why exactly those two witnesses were added.

Trevor had the decency to look mildly abashed. "I'm sure they were," he conceded.

"Why?" Serena couldn't help asking, figuring that this whole conversation was surreal enough – she might as well press her luck and see what else Langan would offer up.

"Suffice to say," Trevor answered carefully, "there are some clients that one takes on in private practice that seem like a good idea in the beginning that then morph into a complete nightmare and you end up in court with your hands tied and very few options available to you. Have a nice lunch Ms. Southerlyn," he nodded, almost to himself, as he left the room.

+++/+++\+++

"How'd it go?" Alex asked as she watched Serena walk into Liz's office.

"Good." Serena shrugged and dropped her coat and briefcase on the floor next to the door. "Smooth, really," she frowned thoughtfully.

"What?" Liz asked, noting how the ADA's attention was focused not on them but on something in her head. "Southerlyn!" she bellowed when her original question failed to elicit a reply.

"You two should get changed for court." Serena turned her attention to Alex and Olivia. "This thing is moving fast. Trevor isn't really putting up much of a fight on cross. I already sent word to Elliot that he would probably hit the stand this afternoon. I want you two ready to go just in case as well."

"Okay?" Alex frowned.

"I need you two to go now so I can talk to Liz, she's been an invisible second chair on this one, and as witnesses you can't hear what we need to discuss now."

"Why?" Olivia asked.

Serena looked at Alex pleadingly, her eyes begging for them to leave so they could get to work. "As witnesses and victims in this case, we are not privy to any information regarding the case beyond the scope of our testimony and that of any individuals called to rebut our testimony," Alex told Liv quietly.

"But I always know what's going on when I'm called," Liv argued.

"Liv, anything pertaining to the defendant would have been obtained after you were shot seeing as these were all John Doe rapes until that night. Therefore, you were not involved in the investigation into Walker's background and, by that argument, you are not privy to the information gathered from it. Besides, if we're going to get lunch and swing by both of our places to change – we need to get going," Alex stood and held her hand out to help Olivia up.

Olivia took the proffered hand and frowned.

"Liv," Alex sighed. "Would you rather stay here and go over boring legal issues or do you want to go get some lunch with your incredibly hot girlfriend and watch her change clothes?"

"No wonder you upped SVU's conviction rate so much Alexandra," Liz chuckled. "That is quite the compelling argument. Detective Benson, I suggest you have Ms. Cabot contact that incredibly hot girlfriend of yours that she mentioned so you can get some quality ogling in before your presence is required in court."

"Liz!" Alex laughed.

"Get out of here you two." Serena smiled, her expression softening her words. "Meeting room F is ours for the duration of the trial."


	19. Chapter 19

...

**_Part 19_**

Alex smiled her thanks as she sashayed through the door that Olivia held open for her. "So what do you want to do for lunch?" she asked as they made their way down the hall toward the elevators.

Olivia smirked as she took a quick look around to make sure that she wouldn't be overheard. "I dunno," she drawled playfully. "How about… you? With a side of you, and then maybe a little you for dessert?"

"I see," Alex drawled as she punched the call button for the elevator. "And you say I'm the one who's insatiable," she murmured, watching Olivia's shit-eating grin grow larger in the reflection of the elevator doors. "Unfortunately I don't think we have that kind of time today."

Olivia laughed and was about to respond to Alex's accusations when the elevator dinged and the doors opened to reveal a three quarter-full car. They joined the throng without a word, nodding silent greetings to the few individuals with whom they were familiar, their teasing conversation halted in deference to decorum. Their shoulders bumped slightly when the crowd shifted, and the overwhelming urge to just reach out and touch the other saw Olivia shoving her hands into her pockets and Alex crossing her arms over her chest in an attempt to fight that urge. It was in this manner that they joined the other occupants in staring at the display above the doors counting down the floors until they were able to exit to the marble tiled lobby.

"What if we picked up some sandwiches from Giovanni's and take them back to your place?" Olivia offered as she followed Alex across the lobby toward the revolving doors leading to the street.

"That could work," Alex nodded thoughtfully. "You sure you wouldn't want to eat out though? I mean, we've been pretty well house bound for the last week."

Olivia smiled as she lifted her hand and let out a shrill whistle to hail a cab. A yellow sedan separated itself from traffic and pulled to a stop at the curb in front of them. She opened the door for Alex to climb in first, following suit once the blonde had scooted across the seat. "I'm sure," she leaned in and whispered into Alex's ear. "This way I might still have a chance at dessert."

Alex responded with a loud throaty laugh and a shake of her head. "Ahh, I see."

+++/+++\+++

"I don't see how in the world you think you can eat this," Alex frowned as she carefully cut Olivia's meatball sub into more manageable pieces. Only Olivia would think that a meatball sub was a good idea when she still only had use of one arm. "You only have one hand and you ordered what has to be the messiest sandwich ever invented."

"Thank you," Olivia smiled at Alex as the blonde set the knife down on the side of her own plate. "Giovanni's makes the best meatball subs though," she rationalized as she picked up a piece of her sandwich and took a gigantic bite. Rivers of marinara shot out the sides of the roll as she squeezed it between her fingers, but years of practice had Olivia leaning over her plate so the globular drops fell onto her plate instead of her lap.

"Uh huh," Alex replied skeptically.

"Mmm," Olivia moaned appreciatively as she chewed. "Almost as delicious as you are," she smirked.

"Liv," Alex admonished as she set her turkey club croissant down onto her plate and delicately wiped at the corners of her mouth with her napkin.

"What?" Olivia replied, her brown eyes twinkling with amusement. "It's true."

"Well then I guess it's a good thing that we don't **_have_** to be back at the courthouse precisely when the trial will reconvene for the afternoon session, isn't it?" Alex arched a perfectly sculpted brow questioningly.

"That is indeed a very good thing," Olivia nodded her agreement, a silly grin tweaking her lips as she stared at Alex. Her attention was so completely focused on the regal blonde beside her that she failed to notice the trails of sauce that were running down her wrist and onto her sleeve.

"And you know what's even better?" Alex grinned as she picked up her sandwich, realizing that Olivia was oblivious to the mess she was becoming.

"Hmm?"

"That I have a washer and dryer right down the hall."

"You wanna do it on the washer?" Olivia frowned. "Kind of strange, but okay," she shrugged.

"While that does sound adventurous," Alex laughed as she waved her hand at Olivia's. "I meant that your sweater will be ruined if we don't get it in the wash soon."

"Oh." Olivia looked at her stained sleeve. "At least it's a red sweater," she said and shrugged as she licked the trail of sauce off her wrist.

Alex shook her head as she pointed at the paper napkin that was sitting on the table beside Olivia's plate. "I did provide you with a napkin."

"Yeah." Olivia smirked. "But I gotta keep my tongue in shape," she said as she waggled her brows suggestively.

"Oh my god," Alex laughed. "That was bad Liv."

"You like it."

"Just don't waste all those licks on your wrist Detective," Alex purred as she lifted her sandwich. "I have plans for that tongue."

"Ummmm-" Olivia swallowed hard before she regrouped enough to reply -"I will certainly take advice that under consideration then Counselor."

+++/+++\+++

Olivia finished rinsing off the last of the lunch stuff, set it into the dishwasher, and used her foot to lift the door before she bumped it shut with her hip. She absentmindedly wiped the residual wetness off her hand onto the back of her jeans as she padded down the hall toward the bedroom Alex had disappeared into to choose her clothes for the afternoon.

"Do you really think we're going to get called today?" Olivia asked as she paused to lean against the doorframe.

"I sincerely doubt it," Alex's voice answered from the dark depths of her massive walk-in closet. "Which one?" she asked as she walked out holding a navy suit in one hand and a black pinstripe in the other.

"Neither," Olivia replied, her smile wolfish and her eyes hungry as she pushed off of the doorframe and stalked into the room.

"Why?" Alex frowned as she surveyed her selections. They were both perfectly fine suits and she knew she looked good in either of them.

"I haven't had my dessert," Olivia licked her lips.

Alex paused as she felt her sex clench at her lover's statement. "I see," she murmured as she turned to hang the suits on the door to the bathroom before turning to face Olivia. "Then I guess the most prudent course of action would be to correct that unintended egregious oversight as soon as possible, wouldn't it?" she asked as she placed her hands on her hips and smiled.

"Alex," Olivia groaned as she gathered the willowy blonde in her arms. "I want to slowly strip these clothes off you – running my lips, my teeth, and my tongue over you as I move down your body. I want to cradle your gorgeous breasts in my hands as I take your nipples in my mouth and tease them until you're moaning my name in pleasure," she murmured playfully against the shell of Alex's ear, her hold on the blonde tightening as she felt Alex shudder slightly and heard her moan softly at her words. "I want to lay you down on that bed-" she nodded toward the piece of furniture in question as she brushed her lips against Alex's neck "-and taste you. Run my tongue over and around and through your very center. I want to plunge my tongue into you as deep as I can. I want to gather you in my mouth and suckle gently as I bring you to the apex of pleasure and hold you there, right on the edge where your legs and tingling and your body feels like every nerve ending is on fire until you literally beg me to let you fall. Could you please, please, please, not make it sound like some sort of legal recourse that is to be considered and amended?"

Alex nodded and swallowed thickly. "Okay," she husked.

+++/+++\+++

"I can't believe we lost track of time like that!" Alex groaned as she dropped into the cab. "Seriously Liv, the afternoon session started almost an hour and a half ago!"

Olivia arched her back in a slow sensual stretch and smiled. "We're fine, baby. Serena has two witnesses to talk through and Elliot before she will get to either of us."

"And if Trevor continues to not ask any questions on cross?" Alex muttered as she fidgeted with her glasses.

Olivia's smiled faded as she considered that fact. "We'd better hurry," she agreed as she pulled out her phone to send a quick note to her partner. _Are on our way to my place to change. If you get called before we get there – STALL! _

She finished sending the message and looked out the window at the traffic surrounding them. At least, she thought to herself, its midday and it's not as bad as it could be. "Hey buddy," she tapped on the plexi to get the driver's attention. Once he looked back, she flashed her badge. "There's an extra twenty in a tip for you if you get us there in ten."

The cabbie grinned a gap-toothed smile and nodded. "You got it lady."

+++/+++\+++

"Make yourself at home," Olivia smiled she dropped her keys into the bowl on the console table next to the front door. "I'll only be a minute," she pressed a soft chaste kiss to Alex's cheek as she made her way past the blonde en route to her bedroom.

"Ah, Detective," Alex teased. "You don't want me to 'help' you get changed?"

"I want," Olivia assured the blonde with a smile. "But you're the one who so responsibly pointed out that court reconvened about ninety minutes ago. I think it'd be best to just get a move on this time," she hollered over her shoulder as she disappeared into her bedroom to select something suitable for court.

"Don't forget to pull something for tomorrow as well," Alex called down the hall as she perused Olivia's library, smiling indulgently at the number of paperback crime novels gathering dust on the shelves.

It was strange to be at Olivia's place, Alex couldn't help feeling as she scanned the names of familiar authors. She had gotten so comfortable with the brunette being at her apartment that she'd forgotten that it was temporary.

_What will happen when she comes back here?_ Alex thought as she moved to stare out the window onto the somewhat grimy street below. _Will I ever see her when we go back to work and our phones start ringing at all hours of the day and she comes back here to sleep at night?_

Olivia quickly pulled a pair of black trousers off their hanger and dropped them onto her bed before she turned back to the closet to retrieve her suit jacket and a shirt. She quickly stripped off her more casual clothes, kicking them off to the side of her dresser before pulling on her slacks and shirt. The jacket was next, and then she carefully slid her arm back into her sling and reached behind her head to adjust the strap for comfort. She walked out of her bedroom adjusting the sleeves of her maroon turtleneck, tugging gently at the ribbed fabric to get them to hang 'just so' out of the ends of her suit jacket. She spied Alex standing at the window, hands clasped behind her back in what was her prototypical 'thinking' pose.

"Penny for your thoughts," Olivia asked as she sat down on the couch to slip her boots on.

Alex turned to face her lover and smiled. "Just thinking," she said with a shrug.

"I know." Olivia tilted her head questioningly. "You okay?"

"Fine," Alex smiled. "Ready?"

+++/+++\+++

Alex waited for Olivia to pass through security before she led the way down the hall toward the meeting rooms in search of the room that Serena had reserved for use during the trial. Her stride was purposeful, the rhythmic clicks of her heels against the floor tapping out her _I'm gonna kick some ass_ cadence, her shoulders were set and she had a look of concentration on her face that practically shouted for everybody to leave her alone. Olivia, in awe of the powerful blonde as always, followed obediently a few steps behind, her hands shoved into her jacket pockets as she watched the delicate sway of Alex's hips as the blonde strutted down the hall.

"It's down here," Alex called quietly over her shoulder as she led the way down a small offshoot corridor that was lined with meeting rooms.

Olivia just smiled to herself and followed the energized blonde. _Damn I love her in heels_, she thought to herself as she again let her eyes fall to the spectacular sway of Alex's hips.

Alex paused with her hand on the knob to meeting room F and turned to face her trailing lover. "Did you see something you liked, Detective?" she murmured, her eyes twinkling with suppressed laughter.

"Absolutely," Olivia growled softly. "This skirt… the way it hugs your ass… and those heels… I'm a little wet just from watching you," she murmured playfully.

Alex bit her lip and looked down in a moment of embarrassment before she looked up and looked deep into Olivia's eyes as she replied, "I'm a little wet from feeling you stare at me like that," before she threw open the door and strode purposefully into the small rectangular room.

"Fuck me," Olivia exhaled as she followed Alex's path, thankful for the fact that her jacket would hide her now painfully erect nipples.

"So-" Elliot grinned as Olivia closed the door tight behind her "-what took so long? Get caught up at church again?"

Olivia blushed. "Shut up Elliot."

Elliot laughed at his partner's embarrassment and kicked a chair out at her. "Have a seat and make yourself at home stud, Serena just called the second victim twenty minutes ago."

Alex glanced at her watch as she set her satchel down onto the conference table. "So the first vic was on the stand for a little over an hour? I guess that means Trevor actually did something on cross. Any word on what he asked?" Alex asked as she set her satchel down on the floor and gracefully lowered herself into the empty chair at the head of the table.

"Nothing." Elliot shrugged.

The three of them made generic small talk as they waited for the fated knock on the door to summon Elliot to give his testimony. Finally, after what seemed an eternity but was, in all actuality, only about forty-five minutes, the expected knock finally echoed through the room.

"Detective Stabler, they're ready for you," one of the security personnel called through the closed door.

Elliot stood and slipped his arms into his jacket. "Alright. I'll see you ladies when I'm done."

"Good luck El." Olivia gave her partner a high five before he headed out the door. "So what do we do now?" she asked after the door had slammed shut.

"Anything G rated that you can think of to keep busy," Alex replied as she pulled a book out of her satchel. "You want the book you had me grab for you?"

Olivia blew out an exasperated breath as she ran a hand through her hair and nodded. "Yeah. I hate waiting out here, why can't we at least sit and watch what's happening."

Alex shrugged as she flipped open her book. "Mostly because I don't want us to be a distraction to the proceedings. Serena usually tries homicides, not sex crimes, so I don't want her in there thinking that I'm in the back row second-guessing her. And, by us staying out until we're needed, it steals any argument Trevor might have about my presence unduly prejudicing the jury to his client. You saw the papers that Serena showed us, we made front page of the Times; if we were to sit and observe the entire trial Trevor could try and argue that just by our presence in the courtroom we swayed the jury against his client."

"So it's safer this way," Olivia summarized Alex's argument into a handful of words.

"Basically," Alex nodded. "Yes."

+++/+++\+++

"Could you please state your name and occupation for the court," Serena asked the standard opening question of her new witness after he was sworn in.

"Elliot Stabler, Detective with the Sixteenth Precinct, Special Victims Unit."

"And what is the Special Victims Unit?"

"We investigate sex crimes," Elliot answered simply as he sat back in the chair and got comfortable, easily answering each of Serena's questions about the investigations into the prior rapes.

"So, because of the physical similarities of the victims your unit decided that an undercover operation would be the best approach to catching their attacker."

"Yes."

"Whose help did you enlist to perform this operation?"

"Our ADA, Alex Cabot."

"Was that your decision?" Serena asked, trying to head off what she imagined Trevor's line of questioning to be.

"We decided as a team that ADA Cabot best fit the description of the prior victims."

"So you approached her about assisting the squad?"

"We sent Detective Benson to ask her."

"Why is that?" Serena tilted her head for dramatic effect. "As the lead on the case wouldn't it have been your responsibility?"

"We work as a team," Elliot replied smoothly. "And as ADA Cabot would be accompanying Detective Benson into the club, we thought it best that Detective Benson seek out her assistance."

"And ADA Cabot agreed to go undercover?"

"She did."

Serena nodded and began questioning the protocol followed by the unit, where backup was situated during the operation, how Alex and Olivia were monitored once they were inside the club.

"What happened after ADA Cabot and Detective Benson left the club that night?"

"I called Detective Tutuola over the radio and let him know that the agents inside the club were leaving and he headed off to the rendezvous point to wait for me to swing by with the van to pick him up."

"And what did you do?"

"I remained in position in the van listening to Detective Benson and ADA Cabot as they left the club as I waited for them to get to ADA Cabot's vehicle that was parked behind the van."

"And where, exactly, was the van parked?"

"About half a block down from the club. It gave me a good position to observe the front entrance without drawing too much attention to the surveillance van."

"I see. So what happened as you listened to ADA Cabot and Detective Benson walk the short distance to their vehicle?"

"They were approached by a male who made a suggestive comment regarding ADA Cabot's ability to 'help him'."

"How did ADA Cabot respond to that?"

"She didn't have a chance. I heard a shot fired and immediately abandoned my position in the surveillance van to pursue on foot."

"Who fired a gun?"

"Mr. Walker. My partner, Detective Benson, was lying on the street with a GSW to her right shoulder."

"And where was ADA Cabot?"

"Mr. Walker was dragging her around the corner of a building into an alley."

"So what did you do?"

"Detective Benson yelled at me to go after ADA Cabot, so I dropped my radio in her lap and took off running."

"And what did you find?"

"He had Alex bent over a trashcan at the end of the alley," Elliot answered, the memory causing him to forget to use Alex's formal title. "She was fighting him, kicking at him."

"And then what happened?"

"He punched her in the head," Elliot's voice quieted minutely at the memory of how Alex's body dropped from the hit. "I identified myself as NYPD and demanded that he release the girl and drop his weapon."

"Could you see a gun on him?"

"Not at that time," Elliot shook his head. "It was in his left hand that was pressing into ADA Cabot's back, forcing her down over the trashcan."

"So you saw Mr. Walker punch ADA Cabot in the head, and then what happened?"

"He threw ADA Cabot aside, and I again directed him to toss his weapon. He stood there for a moment and then Detective Benson repeated the demand from a strategic position behind me."

"So Detective Benson, despite being shot, followed you into that alley after the perpetrator?"

"She did," Elliot answered and he noticed the quiet murmuring that rolled through the jury at that piece of information.

"Did Detective Benson's appearance have any effect on Mister Walker?"

"He tossed his weapon aside and placed his hands on top of his head."

"Who secured Mr. Walker?"

"I did," Elliot answered. "Detective Benson passed out from blood loss not long after he surrendered."

Serena nodded and continued with her list of questions, effectively walking Elliot through everything that happened once the bus arrived on scene and Alex and Olivia were transported to the hospital, to the extent of their injuries. She purposefully let her questioning end before Alex's loopy behavior could be brought into record.

"No more questions your honor." Serena smiled a small smile of thanks at Elliot as she returned to her seat.

+++/+++\+++

Olivia glanced at her watch and blew out a loud breath. Four fifteen, El had been on the stand for a little over an hour now.

"Just relax and read your book," Alex murmured without looking up from her own novel.

"I wish I knew what was going on in there," Olivia grumbled.

"Testimony," Alex answered dryly. "Nothing you can do about it, just read your book Detective."

"Since when did you become so hands off when it came to a trial?"

"Around the time I woke up in the hospital and knew that I'd eventually be called to testify against my attacker," Alex replied. "I'm not trying it, I can't control it. So, I'm reading this book."

"How far have you gotten?"

Alex smirked as she looked up at her lover. "I've read this same page for over an hour and I still can't tell you what it says."

"Waiting sucks."

Alex nodded. "I agree wholeheartedly Detective."

+++/+++\+++

Trevor theatrically studied his notes for a few seconds before he nodded to himself and stood to address the court.

"Detective Stabler, what was the approach that Detective Benson and ADA Cabot used once they were inside the club?"

"They were going to dance, hang out. Try and draw attention to ADA Cabot."

"And you were positioned in the van during the time Detective Benson and ADA Cabot were inside the club?"

"I was."

"So you had uninterrupted access to Detective Benson the entire evening? Everything that she heard, you heard?"

"That is correct."

"Hear anything good?"

"I'm sorry?" Elliot frowned.

Trevor smirked and addressed the court, "Your Honor, the defense would like to introduce defense exhibit 12 into record and show it to the jury."

Brennan, expecting this move, nodded. "Bailiff, could you please bring the AV Cart in and dim the lights."

The bailiff nodded his understanding, quickly retrieved the cart from the hall behind the courtroom, and easily set it in position before he dimmed the lights.

"This is surveillance video taken inside the club on the night of the undercover operation," Trevor explained to the jury as he lifted the remote and hit play.

The screen flickered for a moment before a silent video of the dance floor inside Sugarland popped up onto the screen. "Here-" he pointed at the image of Olivia and Alex dancing "-are Detective Benson and ADA Cabot on the dance floor inside the club on the night in question."

Serena could only watch as Alex began dancing more and more seductively with Olivia, grinding herself down onto the Detective's thigh as they moved together. When the short snippet of video ended, Trevor motioned to the bailiff to turn the lights back up and he again turned his attention to Detective Stabler.

"Did the behavior shown on that video fit with standard procedure when conducting an undercover assignment?"

"Yes," Elliot replied. "The definition of going undercover is to fit into a specific stereotype or role, so I would say that Detective Benson and ADA Cabot played their roles perfectly."

Trevor feigned a brotherly grin. "Played their roles perfectly? Come on Detective, two hot women dancing together like that-" he waved at the now blank screen for emphasis "-that definitely looks like more than playing a role. Why, exactly, were they chosen to go undercover together – because they are a couple?"

Serena jumped out of her chair like it was on fire. "Objection!"

Brennan nodded. "Sustained. Mr. Langan, please keep your questions focused to the scope of the Detective's investigation."

"Your Honor-" Trevor turned his attention to the judge "-Detective Stabler was the Detective monitoring the situation inside the club. I am merely questioning the relationship between Detective Benson and ADA Cabot. Surely that falls under the scope of the investigation into my client."

Serena had to fight the urge to stomp her foot in righteous indignation. "Your Honor, the status of the relationship between Detective Benson and ADA Cabot and whether or not enjoyed themselves dancing while executing their roles in an **_undercover operation_** designed to draw out a rapist who was specifically targeting lesbians is irrelevant."

"Sustained," Brennan agreed. "Mr. Langan, please restrict your questions to issues that were brought up under direct questioning regarding the procedures used and or the events as they occurred."

"Yes, your honor," Trevor replied, doing his best to look properly chastised as one more nail was hammered home into the coffin that was this ridiculous case.

+++/+++\+++

Alex and Olivia looked up from their books when the door to the conference room opened to admit Elliot and Serena, both of whom looked monumentally pleased with themselves and life in general.

"Good afternoon in court?" Alex asked, nonchalantly flipping the front jacket of the novel she was reading between the pages as a bookmark.

Serena nodded as Elliot replied, "Yup."

"It went well." Serena smiled. "Trevor took it fairly easy on the women who agreed to testify, although he did get each of them to say that they were lesbians."

"Nice little tip of his hand as to what he's going to try and distract the jury with," Alex muttered disgustedly.

"He did show the surveillance tape from inside the club during Elliot's testimony," Serena told them.

"What did he do with it?"

"Suggested that you two had a damn fine time 'working' together." Serena shrugged. "We got that line of questioning shut off though pretty quickly.

"Bastard," Olivia muttered.

"He doesn't have anything else to try," Serena shrugged, quickly justifying herself by arguing, "The DNA is airtight, the witnesses are all supremely credible. He has to try something."

"I still don't like it," Olivia grumbled.

"Me neither," Alex and Serena echoed.

"Are Liv and Alex going to be okay on the stand tomorrow?" Elliot turned his attention away from his partner and onto the prosecutor.

"We'll be fine," Alex assured him. "At least we know the game going into it – right?"

"I guess," Elliot said with a shrug as he jammed his hands into his pants pockets. "Liv, you okay with this?"

Olivia offered her partner a reassuring smiled. "El, we'll be fine. Don't worry about it."

"All right." Elliot frowned. "If you say so Liv. I gotta get back to the House to check in with Dad, he wanted a report on how it all went this afternoon and then I gotta get to Dickie's soccer game before Kathy turns my nuts into a change purse."

"She knows how to do that too?" Alex smirked.

Elliot winked. "Probably almost as well as you do Counselor."

"Well, I'll have to call her up so we can discuss our techniques then," Alex drawled.

"I don't think I want you discussing technique with my wife Cabot."

Olivia laughed. "Are you afraid Alex will convince her to come over to our team? Because I gotta tell ya, Alex's technique is ah-maz… oompf!"

"That's enough you!" Alex growled.

"As we're on the topic of 'technique'," Serena segued awkwardly. "I noticed you two were a little tardy in your return to court this afternoon."

Alex and Olivia just smiled and shrugged noncommittally.

Serena rolled her eyes and continued her lecture. "For the love of God, the Yankees, and all that is holy, do not stay up all night doing the horizontal tango. You'll look more convincing if you don't have gigantic circles under your eyes."

"I could always blame the dark circles on being woken up repeatedly by nightmares," Alex argued, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "Nobody needs to know that it was an endless string of earth shattering orgasms."

"You're killing me Cabot, just … behave," Serena lectured.

Deciding that that was just too easy of shot to ignore, Olivia chimed in, "But it's so much more fun when she's naughty."

Serena let loose a bark of laughter before she was able to contain herself. "Don't you dare start with me Benson."

Enjoying the light banter, Alex looked at Olivia and batted her lashes teasingly. "Oooh, tell me Detective, what would a girl have to do to force you to use your handcuffs?"

Elliot clapped his hands over his ears and started singing, "Lalalalalalalala!"

"You two," Serena pointed her finger at her friends who were wearing twin faux angelic smiles. "Whatever. You're on your own, but I don't want to see any hickeys. You hear me? Now, I need to get over to the airport to pick up Abbie," Serena glanced at her watch as she shrugged her coat on. "Her plane lands in an hour, and lord knows I will never hear the end of it if I leave her stranded there waiting for me. I'll see you in the morning, bright and early."

"Eight?" Alex clarified.

"Exactly." Serena nodded. "Be here by a quarter 'til. I swear I'd complain if it weren't for the fact that I just want this damn thing over and done with."


	20. Chapter 20

...

**_Part 20_**

Olivia looked at her watch as she readjusted her sling for comfort. She was already dressed for court in a pair of simple black trousers and a merlot colored turtleneck sweater that effectively hid the new marks that Alex had left on her neck the night before. _Seven fifteen, gonna have to leave soon if Alex wants to stop at the coffee shop before we get to the courthouse,_ she thought to herself as she glanced down the hall for her tardy lover. "You almost ready to go?" she called out hesitantly. Alex Cabot pre-caffeine was a mixed bag. She could be laid-back or she could be ferocious.

"Nearly done," Alex's melodic alto drifted down the hall in response.

"Well, if you're planning to stop at Starbucks on the way we are going to need to get a move on," Olivia tried again.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Alex grumbled as she padded out of the bedroom in her stocking clad feet. She leaned up against the wall for support as she slipped on her heels. "Fine," she grumbled as she stood up straight and smoothed her charcoal pinstripe pencil skirt over her thighs before readjusting her suit jacket. "I'm ready. Let's go." She pecked Olivia on the cheek as she passed by the brunette and headed to the front door. "Have you called a cab?"

Olivia stole another glance at her watch before nodding affirmatively. "It should be here any time now," she assured her as she held the blonde's coat out.

"Thank you." Alex smiled as she easily slipped her coat on before throwing open the front door and ushering her Detective out before her.

"You ready?" Olivia asked as she stood in the corridor and waited for Alex to lock up.

"As ready as I'm going to be," Alex said as she took hold of Olivia's hand, efficiently twining their fingers together. "Thank you for going over those questions with me again last night."

Olivia tugged at Alex's hand and pulled the blonde in close enough for her to nuzzle a pristine alabaster cheek. "You know it wasn't a big deal," she murmured.

Alex blushed slightly as she pushed in the button that called the elevator car. "Still… thank you."

Olivia squeezed Alex's hand reassuringly. "My pleasure."

+++/+++\+++

Twenty minutes later Alex and Olivia were sneaking in the back entrance to the courthouse with twin cups of steaming cappuccino. They walked side by side down vacant corridors up to the main level where the meeting rooms were located and ended up to run into Serena and Abbie at the door to room F.

"Good mornin' y'all," Abbie drawled sleepily.

"What happened to not staying up all night doing the horizontal tango?" Alex looked at Serena with an amused expression.

"I just said you two needed to look presentable," Serena countered with a grin. "Which, you do. And, once I get this cup of coffee in me-" she held up her white paper cup for emphasis "-I'll be right as rain."

"Well drink up Counselor-" Alex smirked "-you two have like ten minutes before you need to get moving."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Serena grumbled and Olivia started laughing. "What?" she demanded.

"Déjà vu." Olivia smiled, flashing back to Alex's pout in the apartment hallway this morning. "Don't worry about it."

"You two ready?" Serena asked, her gaze never wavering from Alex's face.

Alex nodded. "We're good. Ran through everything a couple times last night after dinner and then we turned in early."

"We went to bed early too." Abbie grinned.

"Yeah, but we actually went to sleep at a reasonable hour," Olivia countered.

"Who said we didn't, Detective Turtleneck?" Abbie argued.

"The dark circles under your eyes and the faint aroma of chocolate that is rolling off you."

"Damn it Serena," Abbie muttered as she pulled her hair over to her nose for a sniff. "You said that your shampoo would hide the smell of the chocolate sauce."

Alex and Olivia laughed loudly at that. "Abs, I hate to break it to you-" Alex placed a well-meaning hand on her friend's arm "-but if the chocolate sauce got into your hair you were doing something wrong."

"Who says?" Abbie smirked. "Maybe we were…"

"Okay, okay, we're bordering on too much information here peeps," Serena interrupted Alex and Abbie's playful banter with an embarrassed laugh. "Let's just all drink our coffee like civilized adults and enjoy these last few minutes of tranquility before the circus starts."

Five minutes later Serena checked her watch and sighed. "Alright Olivia," she said as she stood and slung her satchel over her shoulder. "Ready to go do this?"

Olivia nodded and looked over at Alex who tried her best to smile reassuringly. "Do good babe. I'll see you when you're done," Alex murmured as she leaned in and quickly kissed the brunette goodbye.

"See you in two point five," Olivia replied cockily. "Abs, take care of her?"

"You know I will," Abbie assured her. "Don't worry about Alex, you just go in there and nail his balls to the wall."

Olivia grinned and pulled Alex into as fierce of an embrace as she could manage. "I love you," she whispered against the shell of the blonde's ear before turning on her heel and striding out the door.

Alex nodded wordlessly and squeezed Olivia tightly before reluctantly letting go. "Love you too," she murmured quietly at the already disappearing form of her lover.

"She'll be fine Alex," Abbie said as sheplaced a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder. "C'mon kiddo-" she tugged gently at Alex's arm "-let's have us a seat and try and find some way to entertain ourselves without the beautiful distractions of our better halves."

+++/+++\+++

Serena watched impassively as Olivia was sworn in, waiting a few extra moments to allow the brunette to settle herself into the witness chair comfortably before she began . "Could you please state your name and occupation for the court?"

"Olivia Benson, Detective with the Sixteenth Precinct, Special Victims Unit."

"Detective Benson, the court has already heard testimony from your partner Detective Stabler regarding your unit's decision to execute an undercover operation on the night in question. Were you in agreement with Detective Stabler that such an operation was the best method to attempt to catch the rapist?"

"I was," Olivia answered.

"Detective Stabler also testified to the fact that the unit felt that ADA Cabot was the unit's best option to put into the club as 'bait'-" she highlighted the word with little air quotes "-is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Was that your assessment as well?"

"I agreed with the other members of my unit that ADA Cabot did, indeed, fit the profile extremely well."

"How so?"

"Tall, blonde, blue eyes, successful," Olivia rattled off the common characteristics of all the victims.

"I understand that 'successful' was a commonality between the victims, but why would you think that ADA Cabot exhibited this trait? It's not like it's something that gets tattooed to your forehead or anything."

Olivia smiled. "Successful people hold themselves differently. There's an air of confidence that can't be ignored or faked."

"And ADA Cabot has this?"

"She does."

"Was there any other reason you and your squad elected to enlist the assistance of ADA Cabot?"

"All of the victims wore glasses. ADA Cabot also wears glasses, and she fit the physical profile – she was the perfect fit."

"So who was sent to enlist ADA Cabot's assistance in this matter?"

"I was."

"Why you?"

"We're friends, and the guys all agreed that she would be more willing to do it if I were the one to ask."

"Why is that? Does she not get along with the other detectives?"

"It's not that, the entire squad has an excellent rapport with ADA Cabot. I was sent because of the nature of the assignment."

Serena nodded as she clarified, "The assignment being assuming the role of a lesbian for the evening?"

"Yes," Olivia answered, her gaze professionally steady. "As she was going to have to accompany me into the club, it was decided that I should be the one to ask for her help."

"And did she agree?"

"She did." _And in spite of everything that happened it was one of the best nights of my life._

"What happened once you and ADA Cabot were inside the club?"

"She went to get us a couple drinks, and I did a quick inspection of the interior of the club to get an idea of the layout. Where the bathrooms were, if there were any back exits out of the club, etcetera. When I finished I met back up with ADA Cabot and we decided to try and draw attention to her by dancing."

"Dancing?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

_Because I made a crack about asking her to dance when I was done feeling her up at her apartment and the way she looked at me was enough to get me wet right then and there, so when she confronted me at the club with those stormy blue eyes I was helpless to do anything but follow her out onto the floor._ "We'd decided before we entered the club that it was a better way to be seen than standing off to the side like a couple of wallflowers," Olivia explained.

"Did it work?"

"There were definitely people watching us dance," Olivia said with a nod. "I think it's safe to say we put on a pretty good show. Once the song was over ADA Cabot went to use the restroom and I went to get us a couple drinks."

"Did anybody approach you?"

"Not me, but ADA Cabot was approached as she was leaving the restroom."

"And how did you know this?"

"She was wearing a wire. Detective Stabler notified me when he heard her talking to a man outside the restroom."

"And what happened then?" Serena asked, pausing momentarily at the railing separating the witness stand from the rest of the courtroom.

"I quickly found ADA Cabot and assumed my role as her girlfriend."

"Why?" Serena asked as she pushed off of the railing and resumed her position a few feet away from the jury box.

"If the man who approached her was the rapist, I didn't want him dragging her out the emergency exit that was located next to the bathrooms."

"I see. And who was the gentleman that approached ADA Cabot?"

Olivia nodded at the defense table. "Mister Walker, the defendant."

"What did the defendant do once you arrived at ADA Cabot's side?"

"He quickly excused himself and wished us a pleasant evening."

Serena nodded and walked Olivia through the remainder of their evening inside the club, covering what they did, what they saw, etc., up until the time they decided to call it a night and leave.

"What happened after you and ADA Cabot left the club?"

"We headed down the street toward the car that was parked behind the surveillance van and were quickly approached by Mister Walker."

"To talk?"

"No." Olivia shook her head. "ADA Cabot asked him if there was anything he needed help with and he responded with something about her being exactly the kind of help he needed."

_Now for the big stuff,_ Serena thought as she clasped her hands behind her back. "Did you pull your service weapon when he approached you?"

"No. I didn't pull my gun and shield in case he was just some punk loser who wanted to harass us. I didn't want word to get out that we were cops in case we needed to go back to try again , so I hesitated."

Serena nodded as if that were the most logical answer in the world and that the jury would be stupid to believe otherwise. "And what happened."

"He shot me." She waved at her injured shoulder with her good hand for emphasis. "And then he grabbed ADA Cabot and started dragging her down the street toward an alley."

Serena cocked her head to the side and paused for effect before asking, "Do you remember what happened next?"

"Detective Stabler paused to check on me and I sent him after Alex," Olivia answered. "He took off at a sprint and I managed to get to my feet and follow."

"Even having been shot?" Serena asked, arching a perfectly sculpted brow for emphasis.

_His arm around her throat, the fear in her eyes. _"I was more concerned for ADA Cabot's safety," Olivia shrugged her one good shoulder.

"What happened once you caught up with your partner?"

"I saw ADA Cabot falling to the ground, lifeless, and heard Detective Stabler demanding Mister Walker drop his weapon and surrender. I echoed those commands and Mister Walker wisely chose to follow our directions."

"What happened next?" Serena asked as she turned to return to her position in front of the prosecution's table.

"I'm not sure," Olivia answered honestly. "I passed out and next thing I knew I was in the hospital and had already had surgery to repair the damage the gunshot did to my shoulder."

"Thank you Detective Benson." Serena smiled. "No more questions Your Honor."

+++/+++\+++

"How do you think it's going?" Alex asked Abbie as she set the crossword puzzle she'd been working on down.

Abbie put her own puzzle aside and looked at her friend. "I'm sure she's doing great Alex. Serena's probably just walking her through everything that happened. This case is pretty airtight, you know it'll be fine."

"I'm more concerned about what Trevor is going to try and pull on her on cross," Alex admitted softly. "She was absolutely terrified of his being able to make her come out on the stand."

Abbie nodded her understanding as she arched her back and stretched languidly. "From what Serena told me of the proceedings yesterday, I don't think Brennan is going to let Langan get too far on the sexuality attack. Ser said he shut it down hard and fast yesterday when Langan tried it."

+++/+++\+++

"Detective Benson," Trevor began his cross from his seat behind the defense table. "Surely there are tall blonde police officers who would have been a better choice to use in this undercover assignment, why did you and your unit insist on approaching ADA Cabot for assistance?"

Olivia stared at Langan and shrugged. "We were short on time and she was our best option."

"So, it wasn't because of any romantic feelings that you might have for the ADA?"

Olivia flicked her eyes to Serena who looked ready to jump up and object and shook her head infinitesimally. "No, it was not," she said as she turned her attention back to Langan. "We had just learned about the club's _Blonde Bombshell_ _Night_ that afternoon and needed to quickly find somebody who fit the profile that we could trust."

"Surely there was a police officer trained in such maneuvers that you could have used in a pinch?"

"While I'm sure it would sell a lot of calendars if we were to take a page from FDNY, the NYPD is not overflowing with blonde bombshells," Olivia replied evenly. "We were in a time crunch and ADA Cabot was our best option. As an officer of the court she was fully aware of what her consent to participate in the operation meant and she was in no way tricked or fast talked into such a predicament."

"So you convinced ADA Cabot to accompany you to the club as your 'date' for the evening?" Trevor shot back.

"It's impossible to convince ADA Cabot of anything she doesn't believe in," Olivia said, smiling mockingly at the attorney. _Stupid prick, you know that better than anybody. _"She consented to assist with all aspects of the operation."

"You two looked like you were enjoying yourselves on the dance floor," Trevor drawled. "You definitely knew how to dance with each other – is that because you've done it before?"

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're asking," Olivia said evenly.

"Well-" Trevor paused theatrically, as if he were trying to gather his thoughts "-I would feel uncomfortable dancing with another man, let alone dancing provocatively with one, but you and ADA Cabot looked anything but uncomfortable on the surveillance tape."

"Objection!" Serena called out, her voice bored, her eyes flashing fire. "Is there a question anywhere in this riveting monologue?"

"Get to your point Mister Langan," Brennan advised.

"Do you make it a habit of going to clubs and dancing with women?"

Olivia could only stare in disbelief that Trevor actually tried that line of questioning as Serena jumped to her feet and practically screamed, "Objection! It was already determined by this court that agents in undercover operations are required to play a certain role and that whether or not those agents actually fit that role in real life is irrelevant."

"Sustained." Brennan glared at Trevor. "Mister Langan, I suggest you refrain from attempting to put sexuality – be it real, perceived, or hopeful daydreams – on trial in my courtroom."

"Yes, Your Honor." Trevor nodded, quickly jumping through the evening's events to the end. _Not like I have anything else to try now anyways._ "Detective Benson, did you witness my client striking ADA Cabot in the alley?"

"No I did not, I arrived as he was throwing her down onto the ground," Olivia replied.

"No more questions Your Honor," Trevor muttered as he dismissed Olivia by turning his back to the witness stand and returning to his seat at his table.

"Redirect?" Judge Brennan looked over at Serena.

"Not at this time Your Honor, the prosecution reserves the right to recall Detective Benson in the future should such a line of questioning be required."

"Granted," Brennan nodded. "The court will adjourn for a brief recess. We will meet back up in fifteen minutes."

+++/+++\+++

"How did it go?" Alex asked, jumping to her feet to gather Olivia in her arms as her lover and Serena entered the meeting room.

"Pretty well," Serena replied as she dropped her satchel onto the floor and stood behind Abbie. "He was actually doing a decent job trying to distract the jury with why SVU used Alex instead of a trained police officer, but then he went and shot himself in the foot by asking if Olivia made it a habit to dance with women."

"He didn't?" Alex and Abbie gaped.

Olivia grinned. "He did. Ser shut him down fast after that."

"Helps that Brennan basically threw down the gauntlet about Trevor trying to put sexuality on trial here," Serena said with a victorious smile.

"Why did you ask me and not another police officer?" Alex asked, turning her attention to Olivia, who blushed.

"The guys were doing me a favor." She shrugged.

"Please tell me you didn't give that answer on the stand," Abbie groaned.

"She didn't," Serena chuckled. "I thought she sold it well, myself. So, Ms. Cabot-" she turned her attention to Alex "-you ready for your turn as the center of attention of this circus?"

"I guess," Alex sighed.

"Knock 'em dead Counselor." Olivia smiled and kissed Alex's cheek quickly.

"I shall do my best Detective," Alex said with a smile as she turned to follow Serena back into the courtroom.

"So whattaya wanna do to pass the time Detective?" Abbie drawled as the door closed behind Alex and Serena.

"I dunno," Olivia answered as she sat down in the chair recently vacated by Alex. "What did you and Alex do?"

"Crosswords," Abbie replied with a grimace. "No fun at all. Wanna play _Truth or Dare_?"

"Truth or dare," Olivia repeated, an amused smile tweaking her lips.

"Well-" Abbie shrugged "-I'd say we could play _Never Have I Ever_, but it's no fun with only two people and we aren't allowed to drink in here."

"Fine, do your worst Carmichael," Olivia chuckled. "Truth."

+++/+++\+++

"Could you please state your name and occupation for the court?" Serena requested as she stood imperiously behind the prosecution's table.

"Alexandra Cabot, Assistant to the District Attorney, assigned to prosecute cases for the Special Victims Unit, Sixteenth Precinct, New York."

"Detectives Stabler and Benson have already testified about the events of the night in question, but I was wondering if you could explain your reasoning for agreeing to assist them with their undercover operation."

"They are my detectives," Alex said with a shrug. "If they need help making a case, I will always do whatever is in my power to help them."

"And going undercover with Detective Benson was one such decision in your power?"

Alex nodded. "It was."

"Weren't you afraid of the idea of being put out as bait?" Serena frowned as she slowly rounded the table to stand in front of the witness' box – she wanted Alex's attention on her and only her from here on out.

"A little," Alex confessed. "But the detectives have orchestrated several such undercover assignments during the time that I've been their prosecutor and they always follow protocol. I knew I would be as safe as anyone else could be in such a situation."

"But, as the defense has pointed out, you are not a trained police officer. Why agree to do it?"

_Because Olivia looked at me with those big brown eyes and asked me to help her, them, out and I was helpless to refuse her. _"Because there was somebody out there raping women and I felt that it was worth the risk to try and catch him before he could hurt anybody else."

Serena nodded theatrically and offered Alex a small encouraging smile before she continued with her line of questioning, walking Alex through preparations, the trip to the club, as well as her initial observations once they were inside. "And Detective Benson and yourself agreed before you had ever entered the club to dance?"

"We did."

"Did you notice anybody paying particular attention to you two while you were dancing?"

"No. Nobody in particular."

"And after the song finished what did you do?"

"I needed to use the restroom and Detective Benson went to get us a couple drinks."

"Did anybody approach you when you were either entering or exiting the club's restrooms?"

"The defendant approached me as I was exiting them."

Serena nodded encouragingly before she set to work walking Alex through her conversation with Walker, Olivia's appearance and his disappearance. She easily led Alex through the remainder of the night's activities inside the club, the blonde answering with a precision honed by years of asking questions herself, and then they got down to the questions that Serena knew Alex would dislike the most.

"So what happened after you and Detective Benson were approached again by Mister Walker outside the club?"

"I asked him if there was something we could help him."

"And his response?"

"Something about me being exactly what he needed," Alex replied, allowing her voice to soften slightly.

"What happened next?"

"It was kind of a blur. There was a gunshot and I saw Detective Benson fall to the ground but before I could really get a good look at her the defendant had wrapped his arm around my neck-" she lifted her left hand towards her throat "-and he started dragging me down the street toward an alley."

"Did you fight back?"

Alex nodded. "I tried. I scratched at the arm around my neck, trying to pull it away so I could breath – it was really hard to breath – and whenever he lifted me up off my feet I kicked backwards at his legs trying to hit his knees. I missed every time."

"Was the defendant saying anything to you while he was dragging you down the alley?"

Alex nodded. "Yes. He kept making derisive comments about how he was _'going to fuck me straight' _and that my _'little cunt bitch whore of a girlfriend'_ wasn't half the man he was."

"Anything else?"

"He told me that all I _'needed was a good deep dicking to make me better'_," Alex replied evenly.

"And what happened once he got you down the alleyway?"

"He pushed me over a trashcan and began trying to pull down my jeans," Alex answered.

"Did he succeed?"

"The doctors told me no."

"You didn't know?"

"He punched me in the face and I was knocked unconscious," Alex explained, waving at the bruised side of her face for emphasis.

"No more questions Your Honor," Serena nodded at the judge.

"Mister Langan," Brennan drawled in a somewhat threatening tone. "Your witness."

"Thank you, Your Honor," Trevor offered Brennan a smarmy smile as he pushed himself up from his chair. "Ms. Cabot, you mentioned that you volunteered to help because 'your detectives' asked you to, is that correct?"

"Yes it is," Alex answered and had to fight the urge to cross her arms over her chest and glare at the defense attorney.

"That is quite an admirable level of dedication for a public servant. You also agreed that dancing with Detective Benson would be an optimal way to draw attention to yourself as the so-called bait?"

"It certainly seems to have captured your attention Counselor," Alex retorted.

"Your Honor," Trevor turned and whined to Judge Brennan.

"Ms. Cabot, you are not in my courtroom as a prosecutor this morning – I suggest you answer the defense counsel's questions in a respectful manner. No matter what you think of him personally."

Alex had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. _This is the first time I've gotten a metaphorical high-five from a judge for being a smart-ass._ "Yes sir, I'm sorry Your Honor."

Brennan nodded and turned his attention back to the now openly gaping defense attorney. "You may repeat your question Counselor."

"Um," Trevor murmured. "Yes. Okay. So you agreed with Benson that dancing was a good way to draw attention to yourself?"

"Yes," Alex replied, her voice saccharine. "**_Detective_** Benson and myself agreed that it would be more beneficial to achieving our desired objective if we were seen together on the dance floor."

The jury most likely didn't notice, but Alex saw Trevor flinch slightly at her stress on Olivia's title. "You and Detective Benson danced pretty well together."

"She's an excellent dancer," Alex replied breezily, choosing to ignore the fact that Trevor's statement hadn't been a question.

"I'm sure she is. You were looking rather impressive yourself, do you have any formal training?"

"Objection," Serena called out, half amused and half exasperated that Trevor still would not let the goddamn dancing thing go. "Relevance?"

"I'm simply inquiring as to whether or not Ms. Cabot possessed a specialized skill set that would have made her a viable asset to the operation," Trevor shrugged with a good ol' boy smile on his face.

Brennan looked down at Alex who just smiled serenely up at him. He arched a brow questioningly and she shrugged, indicating that she didn't mind the question.

"I'll allow it," Brennan informed the court. "But be warned Mister Langan, you are on extremely thin ice."

"Yes Your Honor." Trevor almost bowed. "Ms. Cabot? Any specialized dance training?"

"The usual childhood requirements – tap, ballet, jazz," Alex said with a smiled.

"I see, so it was from that skill set that you felt competent to assist in the undercover operation?"

Alex chuckled and shook her head no. "The dancing you saw on that video is definitely not covered in any traditional disciplines."

"Where did you learn it then?"

Alex saw Serena was about ready to object so she answered quickly, wanting to see Trevor's reaction more than she wanted the jury to hear – again – that he had no basis for the line of questioning he was pursuing. "I learned the majority of those moves at my pole dancing class."

Serena, who had been annoyed by Trevor's idiocy, had to fight back a bark of laughter at Alex's answer and she dearly wished she was up by the witness stand so she could see Trevor's face.

"Pole dancing class," Trevor repeated dumbly.

"Yes," Alex replied helpfully. "It's a great work-out. Fun, as well. Lots of core work, I highly recommend it."

"Ms. Cabot-" Brennan tried to glare impressively and failed miserably "-please keep your opinion as to the benefits of such exercise classes to yourself."

Alex smiled sweetly. "I apologize Your Honor."

"Did you mislead my client in any way when you spoke with him outside the restrooms inside the club?" Trevor changed his tactic.

"In what way?" Alex sought clarification, not willing to walk into a verbal trap.

"Did you tell him you were a lesbian?"

Alex smiled and shook her head no. "No I did not."

"Detective Benson said, on the record, that she interrupted your conversation with Mister Walker – I believe her exact words were," he quickly strode over to his table and skimmed the legal pad he had been taking notes on, "assuming her role as your girlfriend."

Alex nodded. "That sounds about right."

"So you're saying that you told my client that you were a lesbian?"

"No." Alex smiled patronizingly. "I'm saying that I told him I was there with my girlfriend, but I never used the word lesbian in any conversation – no matter how brief – with your client."

Trevor looked ready to press the issue but Judge Brennan cleared his throat softly and shook his head in warning. "You said that Mister Walker approached yourself and Detective Benson after you had left the club?"

Alex nodded. "That is correct."

"And after Detective Benson was shot he grabbed you and dragged you down into an alleyway?"

"Yes."

"And he struck you on the face, knocking you unconscious?"

"Yes."

"Did you do anything to provoke Mister Walker?"

"Objection!" Serena stood for emphasis.

Brennan frowned but decided to allow Langan the rope needed to hang himself. "I'll allow it."

"Ms. Cabot?" Trevor arched a brow questioningly. "Did you provoke my client?"

"Does telling him that the tampon in his pants wasn't enough to fuck anyone properly let alone straight count?" Alex asked, her voice dripping with faux-confusion.

A couple jurors nodded approvingly and there was a quiet murmur of appreciation at the blonde ADA's boldness that rolled through the courtroom at her response.

"Order!" Brennan banged his gavel a couple times for emphasis. "This is not Judge Judy people, you do not get to voice your approval or disapproval of the witness' testimony."

A couple of jurors looked down in embarrassment but most just smirked at Langan, almost as if they were daring the attorney to try something like that again.

Trevor, correctly reading the jury's mood, decided to cut his losses and dismiss Alex. "No more questions, Your Honor."

"Ms. Southerlyn?

"No redirect," Serena replied with a confident grin. "The People rest, Your Honor."

"Your Honor, the defense requests a recess in order to prepare for our witnesses."

"Denied." Brennan glowered at Trevor. "The defense specifically requested a speedy trial, so a speedy trial you shall receive. We will take a break for lunch and court will reconvene at one o'clock on the dot. The defense will be ready to present its witnesses then."

Trevor nodded his understanding. "Yes, Your Honor."

"Court is adjourned," Brennan announced with an authoritative tap of his gavel as he stood and quickly disappeared into his chambers behind the bench.


	21. Chapter 21

...

**_Part 21_**

"Oh no! Nononononono!" Olivia argued loudly. "No. No way Carmichael!"

"Oh-liv-ia," Abbie sang merrily, "you chose truth the last three times and the generally agreed upon universal rules of Truth or Dare dictate that you cannot choose truth four times in a row. So, you **_have_** to have a dare now and that's your dare. You can't change how the game is played!"

"Abbie, I've shared more with you this morning than I have with Alex – you can't honestly expect me to do that!"

Olivia and Abbie were so focused on their argument that neither of them noticed when the door to meeting room F swung open to allow their better halves a front row seat to their argument.

"What's going on?" Alex leaned back and whispered into Serena's ear.

"I think Abbie managed to talk Olivia into playing Truth or Dare," Serena whispered back.

"Nuh uh!" Abbie shook her head emphatically. "That's your dare Benson – nut up and do it."

"Abbie," Olivia groaned. "I've told you my wildest sexual fantasy, I've dictated a letter to Penthouse as to why Alex should be their centerfold, I've given you a goddamn lap dance – you can't hold me to this one!"

"Lap dance?" Serena murmured in Alex's ear.

"Wildest sexual fantasy?" Alex whispered back, her expression indicating that she was clearly very interested in the answer to that one.

"Why you should be the next Penthouse centerfold?" Serena countered softly.

"Hey, I'm hot," Alex argued.

"Yeah, but those magazines all have girls with the king-sized ta-tas and, I hate to break it to you Cabot, but yours are more fun-sized."

"Shut up!" Alex turned to stare down her friend.

Realizing that they were no longer alone, Abbie and Olivia looked up with sheepish grins. "Hey baby," they called out simultaneously.

Serena offered Abbie a flirty little finger wave, but Alex was too focused on staring Serena down to acknowledge Olivia's greeting.

"Fun sized?" she seethed. "I know I'm not huge but, but…"

"Alex, baby," Olivia called out softly. "How did it go?"

"Do you think my breasts are fun sized?" Alex turned on her lover.

Olivia bit her lip to try and hold back the laugh that was threatening to break free and quite possibly condemn her to a slow and tortuous death. She turned to Abbie and mouthed, _I hate you_, before assuring Alex, "Sweetheart, I love your breasts with their cute little pink nipples."

"So you do think they're small?" Alex looked close to tears.

"I will kill you," Olivia murmured to Serena as she gently gathered Alex in her arms. "It will be slow, and painful, and I have a badge, so I **_will_** get away with it."

"Sorry," Serena mouthed, looking genuinely contrite, before she turned her attention to her own girlfriend. "Abs, we're on a short lunch recess – wanna go grab a bite?"

Sensing the complete departure of fun from the room Abbie nodded. "Sounds good, you know what I could really go for?"

"Barbeque?" Serena asked with a teasing glint in her eye.

"I knew there was a reason I loved you," Abbie drawled. "To The Ranch!" she called out dramatically as she led the way down the hall.

Olivia stuck her leg out and kicked the door closed. "Alex, baby?" she murmured softly against her lover's temple. "You okay?"

"Your pulse is racing," Alex replied, her voice sure and steady, a marked contrast to her earlier near-hysterics. "You okay?"

"I'm not the one having a near hysterical break-down over the size of my breasts," Olivia replied.

"While the _fun sized_ comment was hurtful," Alex murmured against Olivia's neck. "I was more trying to get you out of whatever dare Carmichael had dreamed up for you to complete. If they thought that they combined to make me that upset and then left you to deal with the fallout, they'll probably let you go."

"So you weren't mad?" Olivia breathed a sigh of relieve.

"I wasn't really mad," Alex confessed. "I happen to like my body just the way it is."

"I like your body too." Olivia smiled, relieved that Alex wasn't really upset. "Should we go get some lunch?"

"Yeah," Alex nodded. "I told Serena that we'd be in my office this afternoon waiting out the remainder of the trial. Trevor only has a few witnesses to call and none of them should be on the stand long so we're expecting this thing to wrap this afternoon," she informed Olivia as they meandered down the hall toward the bank of elevators that would take them down to the Judge's entrance.

"Okay," Olivia nodded. "What do you want to do for lunch?"

"I'm easy." Alex winked. "What was the dare that you so did not want to do?"

"Ahhh, baby, c'mon," Olivia whined.

"Not happening Detective," Alex said. "If I managed to get you out of it, which is still a pretty big if because Abbie traditionally does not back down from a dare once it's been issued, I deserve to know what it was."

"Fine," Olivia groaned as she put her hand over the elevator door to make sure that it didn't close on Alex. "You know that scene in _Top Gun_ when they're all in the bar," she started to explain after the doors had closed and they were alone.

"Where Maverick sings to woo the girl?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. Well, see, Abbie dared me to be Maverick and she was going to be Goose and I was going to have to serenade you at McMullen's."

"Wow." Alex nodded her appreciation for her friend's creativity. "That's good, even by Carmichael standards. But, wouldn't I be better cast as Ice Man? I am the Ice Queen, after all."

"You are not an Ice Queen," Olivia argued. "You're warm and gooey and delicious."

"Why thank you, Detective," Alex purred. "I think. But I still want to hear about that sexual fantasy – maybe later when we're alone in my office?"

Olivia almost tripped over her own feet in surprise. _Damn, just how long were they standing there?_ "Uhhhhm, okay?"

"And I better be the one in it," Alex lectured playfully.

"Oh, you are," Olivia assured her.

+++/+++\+++

"On a scale from one to ten," Abbie asked as she took a sip of her iced tea, "exactly how pissed would you say Alex was back there?"

"Hard to tell," Serena frowned, looking around the dining room of Abbie's favorite barbeque joint as she thought her answer through carefully. "Usually she doesn't bite at a jab like that, but she's a little raw with the assault and having to testify… I'd say probably a seven or an eight."

"That's what I was thinking too," Abbie nodded as she broke open a roll and dipped it into a plate of barbeque sauce. "Think I should let Benson out of her dare?"

"What was the dare?" Serena asked as she, too, reached for a garlic roll from the basket in the middle of the table.

"You know that scene in _Top Gun_ when they're all in the bar and Maverick sings?

+++/+++\+++

"So who does Trevor have on tap to call this afternoon?" Olivia asked as she leaned back in the plush maroon leather booth.

"Some guy who works with Walker, the nurse from the hospital, and Abbie," Alex shrugged.

"I would think he'd call more witnesses in his guy's defense."

"Why?" Alex shook her head as she folded her menu and set it down on the table. "He was caught in the act of committing a felony by an NYPD Detective and his DNA matched samples recovered from three other rape victims. I'm surprised Trevor doesn't just throw his hands up and wave a little white flag in surrender."

+++/+++\+++

Serena laughed. "I can't believe you would even consider letting Olivia be Maverick! Wasn't that your nickname when you were in the DA's office up here?"

Abbie nodded. "Yeah, but can't you just see Benson singing, Alex blushing and being all embarrassed, and all the cops in the joint joining in? It'd be classic!"

"It would," Serena agreed with a laugh. "You going to let her out of it?"

"I dunno." Abbie shrugged. "Do you think I should?"

"Depends," Serena said as she wiped her hands off on her napkin before resting her chin in them. "How good of a lap dancer was she?"

"Oh baby," Abbie drawled. "That girl is not made to do the lap dance. Yours are way better, don't worry."

"That's good," Serena smiled. "I guess Alex does the lap dancing in their burgeoning relationship. Did you know she takes pole-dancing exercise classes?"

"Yeah." Abbie grinned. "I'm the one who told her about 'em. Great for your core and upper body strength. Why, how did you find out about that?"

Serena smirked. "It might have come up when she was on the stand this morning."

"Oh, now I know this is good, do tell!"

+++/+++\+++

"God I'm full," Olivia groaned as she dropped her stained napkin onto her plate. "I can't believe you ordered a chicken salad here, Jerry's has the best pastrami sandwiches."

Alex set her fork down beside her plate and smiled. "Am I supposed to apologize for ordering a healthy lunch instead of a fat filled sandwich?"

Olivia pouted. "I'll have you know that the pastrami is extremely lean here."

"I'm sure." Alex smirked, but was interrupted from her teasing by the beep of her phone.

"What is it?" Olivia grumbled as she lifted her glass to take a long drink of Coke.

"Text from Abbie," Alex told her lover. "They just walked into court now," she glanced at her watch. "Wow, this hour has gone by really fast."

"Should we be getting back?"

"Soon." Alex nodded. "I told Serena we'd hang out at Hogan and wait for her to call and tell us that this thing's been handed off to the jury before coming back down to wait with her and Abbie for the verdict."

"They're not going to go to the tower to wait?"

"Nah." Alex shook her head. "It should be a fast verdict."

+++/+++\+++

Serena glanced quickly at her watch as she waited through Trevor's tedious examination of his first witness. _Like anyone really cares that Walker was an Eagle Scout or that he volunteers for a handful of charities through his accounting firm_, she thought to herself as she doodled aimlessly on her yellow legal pad.

"Ms. Southerlyn?" Brennan's booming voice brought her attention back to what was happening in the courtroom.

Serena looked up and arched her brows questioningly.

"Would the People care to cross examine this witness?"

"Oh, yes, Your Honor," she stood and purposefully refused to look behind her to where she was sure Abbie was sitting in the gallery trying not to laugh at her lack of concentration. "Mister Travis," she remained standing behind the prosecution's table and addressed the witness. "Did you accompany Mister Walker to Sugarland on the seventh, fourteenth, twenty first, twenty-eighth of last month?"

"No I did not."

"So you cannot offer any evidence as to Mister Walker's actions on those nights."

"No I cannot."

"So you don't know about how he subdued and raped three women, shot a decorated NYPD Detective or assaulted an Assistant District Attorney?"

Trevor stood to argue but Serena beat him to the punch.

"Withdrawn," she waved her hand dismissively. "No more questions your honor."

"Mister Travis," Judge Brennan looked down at the witness. "You are free to go. The state of New York thanks you for your time in this matter."

"Thank you sir," Travis muttered as he quickly climbed down from the witness stand and walked as fast as he could down the aisle and out the double doors at the back of the room.

"Next witness Mister Langan?" Brennan prompted.

Trevor nodded and called out, "The defense calls Ms. Heather Finnerty."

At his pronouncement, a petite woman in the middle of the gallery stood and made her way up to the witness stand. Everybody watched impassively as she was sworn in, and once she was seated Trevor strolled out to the patch of floor in front of the witness stand and began his line questioning.

"Could you please state your name and occupation for the court?"

"Heather Finnerty, I'm a nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital."

"Your Honor," Serena said as she stood and addressed the court. "May we approach the bench?"

Brennan nodded and Serena and Trevor walked up to the bench but he shook his head no and motioned toward the door leading to his private chambers. Serena and Trevor followed him inside and the second the bailiff pulled the door closed behind them she began her argument.

"Your Honor," Serena addressed the judge. "The People motion for this witness to be dismissed on the grounds that as per section 602 of the Federal Rules of Evidence she is not a viable witness as she does not possess any first-hand knowledge of the events that affected Detective Benson and ADA Cabot. We also file a preemptive motion for Ms. Carmichael to be excused on the same grounds."

"Mister Langan?"

"I have called them to comment on what they observed when Ms. Cabot and Detective Benson were hospitalized."

"Nurses are covered under the umbrella of doctor patient privilege," Serena argued.

"I'm not going to ask about treatment or anything else that would fall under that umbrella, just what she was able to observe," Trevor tried again. "Any civilian walking past their room would have been able to look in and see them, and as such her observations do not fall under the scope of doctor patient privilege."

"Why are you calling these women to testify Mister Langan?" Brennan demanded.

"Character witnesses, Your Honor," Trevor replied quickly.

"Neither of these women know your client Mister Langan," Brennan frowned.

"No sir," Trevor agreed. "But they both have had contact with Detective Benson and ADA Cabot."

"So you're going to put these women on the stand to try and discredit a Detective, who will be getting another ribbon for heroism, and a highly decorated, well respected, Assistant District Attorney."

Trevor nodded. "Yes sir."

"I will give you the rope you need to hang yourself Mister Langan," Brennan informed them. "But be warned you are on very thin ice and I will not hesitate to jail you on contempt charges should you try to put sexuality on trial one more time in my courtroom. Understood?"

"Yes sir," Trevor nodded thankfully and fell into position behind the judge as he led them all back out to the courtroom.

"Ms. Finnerty," Trevor began again. "How long have you been a nurse at Mount Sinai?"

"Fifteen years."

"I see." Trevor nodded. "So, you've pretty much seen it all."

"I guess."

"Did you observe Ms. Cabot and Detective Benson interacting while they were hospitalized?"

"I did."

"What did you see?"

"Well, Ms. Cabot, she's the blonde one – right?" She asked, and when Trevor nodded she continued, "Yes, well Ms. Cabot climbed into bed with Detective Benson and refused to move."

"Is that typical behavior?"

The nurse smiled. "That was definitely a first for me."

"Were Ms. Cabot and Detective Benson assigned to the same room?"

"Not originally. Ms. Cabot started off on a private floor but demanded to be moved into Detective Benson's room once Detective Benson was released from surgery."

"Who authorized the move?"

"The Chief. Ms. Cabot's aunt is on the hospital board and rumor has it that she made the request personally."

"Objection," Serena argued what she could. "Hearsay."

Brennan nodded his agreement. "The jury is to ignore Ms. Finnerty's comment about ADA Cabot's aunt."

Trevor shrugged and tried again. "Were Ms. Cabot and Detective Benson allowed to remain in the same bed?"

"No. Doctor Webber saw them both and ordered Ms. Cabot into her own bed."

"Sounds about right." Trevor nodded as if he actually had a point. "So was that the end of their antics?"

"Well, when I came on for my next shift Ms. Cabot was indeed in her own bed, but it was pushed up right next to Detective Benson's."

"Who moved the bed?"

"The nurses who were on duty at the time told me that her visitors were responsible for the move."

"So would it be safe to say that Ms. Cabot was not a model patient?"

"Objection!" Serena called out, exasperation clear in her tone. "Argumentative!"

"I agree." Brennan scowled at Trevor.

"No more questions Your Honor," Trevor mumbled.

"Ms. Finnerty," Serena stood and addressed the witness. "Were you at the club Sugarland on the night of the twenty eighth?"

"No I was not."

"Did you witness the defendant shooting Detective Benson or assaulting ADA Cabot?"

"No I did not. I only saw them during the time they were hospitalized for their injuries."

Serena nodded. "How many rape and or assault victims have you tended to during your tenure as a nurse at Mount Sinai hospital?"

"A handful. But we don't get a whole lot of them on the surgical floor," she confessed.

"In your opinion, do victims of attempted rape and or assault generally tend to seek comfort from their friends and family?"

"They do."

"Thank you," Serena said dismissively. "No more questions your honor."

"Mister Langan-" Brennan looked to Trevor "-redirect?"

Trevor shook his head. "No, Your Honor."

+++/+++\+++

"Wonder how it's going?" Olivia mumbled as she reclined on the couch in Alex's office. They'd been back at Hogan for almost half an hour and her full belly from lunch was making her sleepy.

Alex looked up from the screen of her phone and her watch before she replied, "Fast. Abs just texted me that the nurse is done and she's up next."

"Court's only been back in session for what, an hour?" Olivia frowned.

Alex nodded. "About that, yeah."

+++/+++\+++

"The defense calls Abigail Carmichael," Trevor called out, his voice sounding defeated and tired.

Abbie stood and gave Serena a quick smile as she passed the prosecution's table en route to the witness stand. After she was sworn-in, Trevor started in on his last Hail Mary. "Please state your name and occupation for the court.

"Abigail Carmichael, Federal Prosecutor for the US Attorney's office."

Serena had to bite her lip to keep from smiling at the awed murmurs that rolled through the courtroom after Abbie stated her occupation.

"Ms. Carmichael, how do you know Detective Benson and Ms. Cabot?"

"I worked with ADA Cabot for a time here in New York at the District Attorney's office before I accepted a job with the US Attorney's office, and I know Detective Benson from the time that I worked as a prosecutor with the Special Victims Unit."

"You have quite the reputation of the playgirl, have you dated either of them?"

"OBJECTION!" Serena shouted, incensed.

"Sustained!" Brennan scowled at Trevor. "Remember our talk Mister Langan. I will not tolerate one more slip from you."

Trevor nodded his understanding. "Ms. Carmichael, were you one of the friends and family who were responsible for moving Ms. Cabot's bed when she was in the hospital?"

"I was," Abbie drawled, a pleased smile tweaking her lips.

"Why did you do that?"

"They asked me to," she said with a shrug.

"You didn't think that was an odd request?"

"Not at all."

"Really, may I ask why?"

"Sure," Abbie drawled. "When I was raped in college I slept in my roommate's bed for a month after the attack. I was afraid to be alone. The nightmares of the attack were less severe when I knew that I had a friendly body there to protect me."

Trevor could only stare. "I see," he murmured, obviously surprised by Abbie's statement.

"Is there anything else Counselor?" Abbie drawled, arching a brow questioningly as she appraised the flustered attorney with a lopsided smirk.

"Ms. Carmichael," Brennan chastised, but she could see that he was trying his damndest not to smile. "Please remember that you are in this court as a witness and not as a prosecutor. You are to answer questions that are presented to you, not ask ones of your own."

"Of course." Abbie smiled. "I sincerely apologize, Your Honor."

"Mister Langan-" Brennan looked at Trevor "-do you have any more questions for this witness?"

"No, sir." Trevor shook his head and quickly reclaimed his seat.

"Ms. Southerlyn, would the People like to cross examine this witness?"

Serena smiled brightly. "Oh, I don't think that's necessary, Your Honor," she replied, fighting to keep from laughing.

Brennan nodded his agreement and turned to Abbie. "Ms. Carmichael, you are excused as a witness in this matter and I sincerely apologize for taking up your valuable time."

"Not a problem." Abbie grinned as she stood and walked jauntily down the aisle between the attorney's tables to reclaim her seat in the gallery.

"Ms. Southerlyn," Judge Brennan said as he turned toward the smiling blonde. "Are the People ready to present their closing argument?"

Serena smiled. "We certainly are Your Honor."

"Very well-" he nodded "-you may proceed."

+++/+++\+++

"Holy shit," Alex murmured as she read the newest message on her phone.

"Hmm?" Olivia murmured distractedly as she turned into her lover and nuzzled her face into Alex's stomach.

"God Liv," Alex groaned. "You don't know how hard it's been for me to keep my hands to myself this whole time you've been resting, can you please not start trouble?"

"Sorry." Olivia smiled and moved her lips from Alex's stomach to her crotch. "Better?" She asked playfully, her warm breath sneaking through the thin material of the blonde's skirt to dance teasingly over her skin.

"No," Alex groaned.

Deciding to take pity on her lover Olivia rolled over onto her back to look up into Alex's eyes. "What's going on?"

"I've ruined my panties," Alex grumbled as she shifted her hips somewhat uncomfortably under the brunette's head.

"Well, I'd apologize, but I did tell you earlier how much I wanted to lay you down on your desk and have my evil way with you, so any apology at this point for getting you riled up would be disingenuous."

"And you complain about me sounding like a lawyer," Alex chuckled. "Abbie just texted that they're onto closing arguments now."

Olivia glanced at her watch. "So Abbie was only on the stand for fifteen minutes? Total?"

Alex nodded. "So now you see why my current predicament is not a good one," she threaded her fingers through Olivia's short spiky hair.

"Mmm, I promise to take care of you later," Olivia murmured.

"I'm counting on it Detective," Alex purred.

"Can I ask you a question?" Olivia asked as she captured Alex's left hand with her own.

"Sure."

"What were you thinking about earlier when I was resting?"

"How did you know I was thinking?" Alex asked playfully.

Olivia smiled. "Sometimes, when you're really lost in thought about something, your lips move with whatever words are going through you head."

"They do not," Alex frowned.

"They do," Olivia nodded. "But, it's okay. I still love you even though you talk to yourself. What were you thinking about that was so serious?"

"If I should ask you something or not," Alex hedged, still undecided as to whether or not she wanted to risk Olivia and their budding relationship to the full onslaught of a Cabot Thanksgiving.

"You can't scare me off," Olivia murmured, moving their joined hands to the spot between her breasts that was directly over her heart.

"Promise?" Alex asked, a small sliver of fear slipping into her tone.

"I swear," Olivia assured her. "In case you hadn't caught on, you're pretty much it for me Cabot. I'm not running off anywhere. What's going on in that beautiful brain of yours?"

"Would you like to come to Massachusetts with me for Thanksgiving?" Alex asked hesitantly. "All the Cabots will be there, so it might be a little overwhelming for you, but I'd really love…"

"Alex, I would be honored to join you and your family for the holiday," Olivia interrupted her lover's rambling.

"Really?"

"Really, really," Olivia smiled.

+++/+++\+++

"Members of the Jury," Judge Brennan addressed the group in the box. "Do you understand these instructions as they've been given to you?"

Twelve heads nodded their understanding.

"Very well," Brennan nodded. "As it is now only three o'clock, I will ask you to adjourn to the jury deliberation room to begin discussions on the charges in this case. If you have any questions or need to review materials, please let the bailiff know and we will do our best to accommodate those needs as expediently as possible."

Serena stood and watched the jurors shuffle out of the room, waiting for the door to close behind them before she gathered her papers, files, and notes to begin putting them away into her satchel.

"So, what's the over under at?" Abbie drawled playfully from behind the banister separating the gallery from the prosecution table.

"An hour?" Serena shrugged.

"I'm taking the under on that one Counselor," Abbie grinned. "I'd better call Alex and tell them to get their asses down her A-SAP," she muttered to herself as she dug her phone out of her pocket and quickly dialed Cabot's cell.

"_Are you guys done already?"_ Alex's surprised voice answered on the first ring.

"Yup." Abbie grinned. "You two should probably put your clothes back on and get down here, we've set the over/under at an hour."

"_I'm betting on the under,"_ Alex muttered.

"Exactly, so get that tight pole-dancing ass down here Cabot – you don't want to miss this one."

+++/+++\+++

"Abbie?" Olivia asked as she sat up.

Alex nodded. "Yes. The jury has it now, so we'd probably better get down there for the verdict."

Olivia nodded her understanding and stood, carefully running her hand over her trousers to smooth any wrinkles that might have been created from her impromptu siesta. "You ready for this?"

"I'll be ready to get this past us," Alex nodded. "I'd like to just be able to focus on us and not what happened to us."

"Yeah," Olivia nodded. "But, can I tell you something?" she asked as she held the door to the ADA's office open for Alex to leave before her.

"Hmm?" Alex murmured.

"Getting shot-" Olivia tilted her head toward her injured shoulder "-was totally worth it to find the courage to finally tell you how I felt."

Alex smiled. "That whole evening was a nice little push to get us to stop dancing around our attraction wasn't it?"

"Indeed it was Counselor," Olivia nodded. "So let's go close this chapter of our lives so we can focus on the future."

+++/+++\+++

"Hey Elliot," Serena smiled as the Detective led the small posse of SVU Detectives into the courthouse. "John, Fin-" she nodded at the pair behind him "-where's Cragen?"

"Somebody had to stay behind to hold down the fort," Elliot explained. "Dad told us to get down here for Liv and to call him as soon as the verdict is in."

"What's the over/under at?" Munch asked.

"An hour," Abbie said. "You want in?"

"Sure," Much replied as he pulled out a twenty. "Is anybody taking the over?" he asked before he handed the money over to the grinning brunette.

"Nope." Abbie shook her head.

"Nope what?" Olivia's voice interrupted their playful banter.

"Nothin'." Fin smiled. "How you doing Olivia?"

"Fine, Fin," Olivia said with a smile.

"Ms. Cabot, you are looking as beautiful as always," Munch said, smiling at his ADA.

Alex blushed and looked down. "Thank you," she murmured but she was saved from further embarrassment by the bailiff who had just emerged from the courtroom.

"Ms. Southerlyn," he said, cocking his head toward the courtroom. "The jury is back with a verdict."

"How long did it take?" Abbie asked.

"Forty five minutes," Serena reported. "Let's go get our verdict."

Alex and Olivia stood in the front row of the gallery flanked on their right by Munch and Fin, and on their left by Abbie and Elliot. Serena stood before them, shoulders square to the bench as Judge Brennan accepted the verdict sheet from the jury foreman and glanced at it before handing it back to the bailiff to return to the foreman.

"Has the jury reached a verdict in the case of the People vs. Chase Walker?"

"We have Your Honor," the foreman, a graying professor type with a tweed jacket, replied.

"And what say you on the first count of rape in the first degree?"

"Guilty."

"The second?"

"Guilty."

"The third?"

"Guilty."

"And the charge of illegal possession of a firearm in the first degree?"

"Guilty."

"The charge of aggravated assault on a police officer in the first degree?"

"Guilty."

"And the single charge of assault in the second degree."

"Guilty."

"Does Counsel request a poll?" Brennan asked Langan.

"No, Your Honor," Trevor replied dejectedly.

Brennan nodded and smiled his thanks to the jury. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, let me express my profound thanks to you all for your participation in this matter. The State of New York appreciates your hard work, and you are hereby dismissed from all obligations in relation to this trial. Court is adjourned."

"So-" Serena turned and smiled at her friends after the jury had left "-what do you want to do to celebrate?"

"We heard Alex does some pole dancing," Fin smirked.

"Not for you I don't," Alex laughed.

"Let's go over to McMullen's." Abbie grinned. "Detective Benson owes me a song."

**...**

**THE END. For now. Continued in _Game Face._**

**...**


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